You'll Never Find Us - by Jeanne Baker Guy (Paperback)

About the Book

In the summer of 1977, an Episcopal priest delivers a letter to thirty-year-old Jeanne informing her that her German nationalist ex-husband has kidnapped their two young children and fled the United States. Unable to get the help she needs from the law, she makes a decision: she will search for and ultimately steal back her son and daughter.

Book Synopsis

In 1977, Jeanne's German nationalist ex-husband, Klaus, tells her he's gotten a new job and wants to take their three-year-old daughter and six-year-old son away for a long weekend to celebrate. Jeanne relents. But Klaus never returns and instead sends Jeanne a letter, delivered by a mutual friend, in which he declares that he has fled to Germany and she will never see him, or her children, again.

The next four months are filled with agony, despair, and anger as Jeanne seeks legal support but quickly learns that federal parental kidnapping laws will offer her little help. She reflects on her tumultuous ten-year marriage to Klaus and the unsettling events that followed their divorce. A product of the patriarchal culture of the 1950s, Jeanne's nice-girl mentality is being tested and reshaped by the feminist movement of the 1970s, and she finds that the kidnapping ultimately becomes a doorway to unexpected strength.

You'll Never Find Us is the story of a young mother coming into her own power, regardless of past mistakes, bad judgment, and fears; the story of a woman who realizes she must tap into her newfound resilience and courage to find her stolen children--and steal them back.

Review Quotes

2022 Sarton Awards Finalist in Memoir
2022 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Folio Literary Management Winner

2022 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Silver Medal Winner in Non-Fiction (Memoir)
2022 16th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards Winner in Memoir
2022 IPPY Awards Silver Winner in Autobiography III (Personal Struggle/Health Issues)
2022 Eric Hoffer da Vinci Eye Book Awards Winner
2021 Foreword INDIES Finalist in Autobiography & Memoir

"This is a book about courage. Any parent's nightmare is to have their children disappear. It is even worse to learn the captor is the other parent. A story told with intensity and love."
--DAN RATHER, journalist and author of What Unites Us

"Baker Guy writes with honest and heart-wrenching emotional detail . . . A moving account of a nightmarish family drama."
--KIRKUS REVIEWS

"Overall, You'll Never Find Us is an astonishing and personal tale about the hidden power of refusing to accept mistreatment."
--READERS' FAVORITE, 5-star review

"Do I recommend this book? Wholeheartedly. You will laugh, cry, be angry, and then cry some more. That's okay because you'll emerge feeling stronger. If Jeanne can face this horrific situation and live to write about it, then maybe it's possible for each of us to face our own personal demons."
--LEN LEATHERWOOD, President of Story Circle Network

"Jeanne Baker Guy's You'll Never Find Us moves us through shock and outrage to courage and determination, past gendered obstacle after gendered obstacle, past villains and equally guilty bystanders, to a triumph that should never be necessary--a victory over intimate violence of the worst kind. This is a book that will break your heart. And then repair it stronger than ever."
--RICHARD HOFFMAN, author of Half the House and Love & Fury

"Through her powerful and authentic storytelling, we watch Jeanne Baker Guy grow up from a compliant young wife and mother into a woman to be reckoned with through a powerful and timeless transformation of the human spirit."
--CHRISTINA BALDWIN, author of Storycatcher and Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Practice

"A universal story of a young mother coming into her own power, regardless of past mistakes, bad judgment, and fears. An emotionally gripping heroine's tale, one too many will relate to."
--SARAH BIRD, author of Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen and the forthcoming Last Dance on the Starlight Pier

"A compelling read. This is a deeply moving story of a mother's love, dedication, fortitude, and courage in the face of overwhelming odds. You feel you are next to her in her determined quest to bring her children back."
--RICHARD A. ZANSITIS, Vice President and General Counsel, Rice University

"Absolutely gobsmacking and very well written. Jeanne's story is brutally honest, tense, and full of courage. It had me spellbound."
--ANN LINNEA, author of Deep Water Passage: A Spiritual Journey at Midlife and Keepers of the Trees: A Guide to the Re-Greening of North America