I Am My Own Wife Audiobook By Charlotte von Mahlsdorf cover art

I Am My Own Wife

The True Story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf

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I Am My Own Wife

By: Charlotte von Mahlsdorf
Narrated by: Dennis Holland
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About this listen

A soft-spoken transvestite wanting nothing more than to live as a hausfrau, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf instead was caught up in the most harrowing dramas of 20th-century Europe, surviving both the Nazis and the Communists. Originally published as I Am My Own Woman, this exquisitely written autobiography reveals her lifelong pursuit of sexual liberty. The story is reaching an entirely new readership of enthusiastic theater fans with I Am My Own Wife, the new Broadway show by Doug Wright about the life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in drama.

©2004 Cleis Press (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Biographies & Memoirs Gender Studies LGBTQ+ Studies Social Sciences Theater
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I often wonder how such people ever survive at all.
Apart from being an extraordinary tale of survival, this was an interesting social history of the times. Charlotte certainly had the uncertain fortune of being born in "interesting times"
In spite of growing up through the rise of nazi regime, surviving the 'appratchniks' of this and the ensuing grey regime of the G.D.R., she looked for things of beauty, and managed to find and conserve items that would otherwise have been destroyed. At the time she was engaged in this pursuit much was being swept away and discarded by the new political order. Charlotte's interest in furniture from the 'Grundezheit' era became a motivating force in her life,
However, there were many side shoots to this story. The achievement of defining and defending her own identity, identifying as a woman born in a man's body was something that Charlotte also succeeded in doing. In this most difficult of conditions she insisted upon being accepted as the person in whom she identified.
This story is a reminder about the importance of accepting diversity, and valuing the bravery of others. It is narrated beautifully by a man with a soft German accent, who seemed perfect for the role.


an extraodinary woman

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My grandparents survive nazis and Comunists. They didn't want to say much about this time but they both agreed that Comunists were much more worst than Nazist. Half of London is taken by Russian already - I wonder when it will start here in UK.

Woman from Eastern block

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