“This memoir/biography shows what happens when cultures and political systems grate and clash against one another, as an Indian-born husband examines the course of his marriage by exploring the biography of his German wife.
Born during World War II in Berlin, Renate spends her childhood battling for an education against the barriers placed in her way by the police state that was East Germany. After manipulating her way to West Berlin, she meets and falls in love with the author, who had recently immigrated to Germany, then travels to India to introduce herself to his relatives and returns to Germany, marriage and family life…..
Most memorable, though, are insights into the compromises any couple must make to survive as one, including the author’s recasting of the family (after the two sons complete dance training) as a traveling magic act….the volume effectively portrays the hardships of life in Germany, both East and West, during the Cold War. Most of all, it shows how the sustained love of two people can surmount any adversity imposed by society and its institutions.” – BlueInk Review

“Candlelight in a Storm by Naveen Sridhar is the lucid biographical account of a German family from the Second World War to the end of the century. This careful portrait of a lesser-known story—that of Germans who fled life under East Germany for West Berlin—focuses most on the author’s wife, Renate. She is a woman with an adventurous, resilient nature. Renate’s optimism and conviction that events will work themselves out breathe life into a series of travels and everyday events. Renate’s father, like many Germans, joined the Nazi party in its early days, before the extent of the party’s crimes could be known. He was lost at the front, leaving Renate’s mother, Erika, to care for their children. Under these strained circumstances, the family journeyed from East to West Berlin. Candlelight in a Storm skillfully stitches together the facts of those years with memories, allowing Renate’s life to move alongside history. When cultural figures, such as Harry Belafonte and Marlene Dietrich, and political moments, such as the raising of the Berlin Wall and a 1963 visit by President Kennedy to Berlin, intersect with Renate’s days, the period is richly enlivened. Smaller moments, however, exemplify her experiences: a neighbor tasked with denouncing others turns a blind eye at the right time; currency exchanges between the East and West turn out in Renate’s favor; and an impassioned discussion with her brother, Dieter, spurs him to flee East Berlin. Seemingly commonplace details offer a singular glimpse at the Cold War and its aftermath. At times the focus shifts from the complexities of living under a restrictive regime to Renate’s engagement and marriage to Naveen—who, in one memorable instance, takes the reins of the story in a first-person account of meeting her family—but such interludes add warmth to the loosely chronological telling. Other noteworthy moments feature Renate’s first six-week excursion to Naveen’s home in Bangalore; the trip highlights her spontaneity and broadens the work to include influential experiences outside of Germany’s borders. Sub-themes on belonging and displacement emerge through a quotation on the bitterness of the Berlin Wall, as well as through passing remarks. Still, the book avoids bleakness. Sridhar has a talent for highlighting the good in these accounts, and he creates a charmed story with continual reinventions. While it’s tough for any single person to emblematize a generation, Candlelight in a Storm is an accomplished tribute to Renate’s confidence, luck, perseverance, and spirit.” – Clarion Review