Fascinated by the revealing nature of personal narratives, Claudia Gemar began interviewing and collecting stories from women about their experiences during World War II.  She has corresponded with nearly two hundred women, gathering first-hand accounts of the war from Rosies, WAVES, and WACs, as well as dramatic tales of the war from women in other countries including England, Germany, Russia, and Japan.  In her enthralling new oral history, OUR STORIES, Claudia introduces us to these women and gives them the means to tell their stories.  The result is not only a startling front-row view of the war and its impact, but a gradual unfolding of the heart as, one by one, women describe their joys and sorrows in coming of age in this time of conflict.

A professional engineer with BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Georgia Institute of Technology, respectively, Claudia continues to work as an engineer while writing.  Her article “Culture Clash” appeared in the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE MAGAZINE,  and describes the relationship between her mother, then a young American woman living in Morocco in the 1950s, and the seventeen-year-old Berber girl who lived and worked as a maid in the villa she had rented.  Claudia lives in Northern California with her husband and three children.

• OUR STORIES