Flemish Fries: An Immigrant’s Memoir

Flemish Fries: An Immigrant’s Memoir by Mark Leysen

Weapons of mass destruction, Nazi occupation, deprivation, assassination, God, immigration, assimilation, the American Dream, infidelity, success, failure and redemption are just some of the ingredients sprinkled into FLEMISH FRIES – a novel of one family’s journey from Antwerp, Belgium to America. Intrigued by the promise of year-around sunshine, the Vos family immigrates to California after surviving the dark days of World War II. Assimilation is the new challenge, and Willem, the youngest son, is told by his father to learn English in three months or else. Hugo, the eldest at sixteen, is ordered to find a job immediately. Heartbreaking, heartwarming, and equally comical, FLEMISH FRIES turns a sharp eye towards Americanization, which brings diametrically different results to each family member. Late in life, Willem returns to Antwerp for a three week visit to the city of his birth. He is sixty and it has been forty years since his last visit, and now he must face a crucial life altering decision.