Irene Wittig

I was born in liberated Rome to a half-Jewish Viennese mother who had found a modicum of safety in Italy after the Nazi annexation of Austria. My early childhood was spent changing countries and languages until we arrived in New York. There, from age seven, I lived in a Manhattan neighborhood of Holocaust survivors and fellow Europeans displaced by war. I absorbed their memories of betrayals and sacrifice, of courage and difficult decisions, of strangers’ kindnesses and sheer luck.

I came to understand that their gratitude for having found safety in America was tinged with longing for the lives they’d once loved and had been forced to give up. I learned that the past is never quite past. These lingering shadows of all that had been lost are what inspired me to write ALL THAT LINGERS — yet, in writing the novel I found myself reflecting on what my family’s life might have been like had they not been able to leave Vienna.
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I was educated at the HS of Music and Art and the City College of New York, and had a Fulbright to Germany. I lived in Naples for almost 5 years, and met my husband there. Later we lived in Switzerland for 6 years. I worked as a ceramic painter for 20 years. I now live in Arlington, VA with my husband. We have two children and 4 grandchildren.

All That Lingers

Historical Fiction

*Winner, Silver Medal for Historical Fiction 
2021 New York City Book Awards, Self-Publishing

The rise of Nazism catapults Emma's once idyllic life in Vienna into chaos. As she grapples with the harsh new reality of her country's betrayal, she desperately clings to her humanity by hiding her Jewish friends. In the aftermath, she grapples with grief and despair,. She is helped by the friendship of a young British soldier in the post-war occupied Vienna, but only finds true solace by helping a young girl in even greater need than herself. 

The war sends Sophie, her close friend’s young daughter, down difficult paths to safety touched by renewed sorrow. Sophie returns to Vienna years later in search of her lost history.

Friedrich, Sophie’s morally ambiguous uncle, teeters on the edge of what is right and his personal survival. His actions and inaction leave long-lasting repercussions that will threaten to throw all their lives into turmoil again.

—-A bittersweet, cautionary tale that will linger in the reader's mind. Spanning the years 1934-1961, the novel ruminates on the vagaries of love, friendship, family and country amidst the horrors of war and its aftermath.

All that Lingers Reviews​

Short Tales and Ruminations

Short Stories

Short tales with a twist - about crimes unplanned, planned and misplanned and Ruminations on now, then, and what might be.

An Amusing Alphabet

Picture Book

Pre-school children will delight in the sounds and rhythm of the alliterative phrases that accompany the whimsical drawings in AN AMUSING ALPHABET. Several of the drawings contain unstated objects or animals that start with the subject letter. Children will enjoy the challenge of finding them.

Creative Painting on Everyday Ceramics

Arts and Crafts

Hand painting ceramics is a creative and practical art accessible to everyone. Clear step-by-step instructions for every step of the ceramic process are combined with suggestions for finding inspiration. Color photographs illustrate professional results you can achieve on tiles, vases, dinnerware and small murals. Indeed, any clay surface can become a canvas for self-expression.

The Best Thing About Bennett

Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction

Forced into early retirement, Bennett Hall plans for a quiet, orderly, and anonymous existence. No longer will she be burdened by her dependent but unlovable aunt, or her own misperceived rejections.

Unexpected encounters and a new job crack open her social isolation. The arrival of Joe Muir, an attractive widower, and his two adopted Ugandan children, awaken Bennett’s long-ignored desires--and self-doubts. 

Inspired to win Joe’s love she flies to Uganda in search of the children’s missing sister. To overcome the dangers and challenges she confronts, she must find the courage she has always lacked.

A gentle tale of a middle-aged woman who, in striving to become the person she has always longed to be, finds friendship and love.

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