By the age of 40, adventure journalist, Beth M. Howard, was convinced that no matter what she set her mind to, she could find a way to do it. Nothing, however, had prepared her for moving to Stuttgart, Germany, to marry a German.
After a lust-filled, trans-Atlantic courtship, Howard trades the West Coast for a newlywed life with Marcus, an automotive engineer. With fairy-tale optimism, she’s determined to learn the language, settle into her new home and live happily ever after—in an equal partnership. The Teutonic tongue, she discovers, is about as easy as deciphering DNA code. The Germans have a plethora of rules, she learns only by breaking them. And, once she is living in his country, her husband expects her to wash his dishes.
Uh, I don’t think so!
“But you are living your dream!” her sister reminds her. “You can have European adventures, and you can write.”
Howard has adventures all right—from Stuttgart to Munich, Berlin, Paris, Italy and beyond—and she’s written all about them in her lively and witty narrative, “Hausfrau Honeymoon: Love, Language, and Other Misadventures in Germany.”
Will the marriage survive the minefield of culture clashes? Will she ever learn that "awful German language?" As Howard strives for the answer, her story will have you laughing, crying and, above all, rooting for a happy ending.
The Culture Buzz calls Howard, “A reincarnation of the most gifted memoir and humorist writers, she's an Erma Bombeck on steroids.” And the Pulpwood Queens Book Club made Hausfrau Honeymoon an Official Selection, giving it Five Diamonds in the Tiara.
"Beth Howard is a reincarnation of the most gifted memoir and humorist writers. She shares her personal journey with unfiltered honesty, capturing the universality which all will recognize. She's an Erma Bombeck on steroids - giving us humor, wisdom and food for thought. Through her latest offering, "Hausfrau Honeymoon," she gives readers the chance to further enhance the eclectic and complex life Howard continues to live and, thankfully, share with all of us."
-John Busbee, The Culture Buzz
What would you sacrifice to experience a romantic fairy tale in real life?
During this hour of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks with Beth Howard, author of Hausfrau Honeymoon: Love, Language and Other Misadventures in Germany, about adjusting to life in Stuttgart and baking pie as a way to get through grief. Howard explains how learning a new language and making sacrifices in her own career reflects the struggle that many women endure when they are in love.
By Stacey Gualandi/October, 2018
Don’t miss our NEWEST episode of The Women’s Eye Radio with Stacey Gualandi and Beth Howard, the author of her third book, Hausfrau Honeymoon – Love, Language, and Other Misadventures in Germany.
AKA the “Pie Lady, Howard is no stranger to The Women’s Eye. She joined us on the air once before to talk about her last book, Ms. American Pie, which is full of recipes, stories and creative ideas on all-things-pie.
The prolific writer, who once lived in the historic American Gothic house in Eldon, Iowa, now resides on an Iowa farm, and that’s just where I caught up with her to talk about her latest memoir.
