"Time Did It"—A New Book from Ute Carson

Elizabeth Gracen
16 minutes ago
3 min read

By Elizabeth Gracen:

Flapper Press has had the good fortune to publish the poetry of Ute Carson over the years, so when she told us about her latest book, Time Did It: A Family Saga, we reached out to talk to her about her dramatic and very personal new work.

Time Did It: A Family Saga tells the true story of Ute Carson and her aristocratic family, whose lives, land, status, and fortune were lost as they escaped Nazi Europe. Ute Maria Elisabeth Gräfin von Hardenberg-Carson was born on the Baltic Coast in Köslin, Pomerania. Providing a different perspective on 19th and 20th century Europe, the countess shares the drama, sadness, love, anger, betrayal, and joy that make her the woman she is today. Now living a very full life in America, Ute Carson continues her journey with unflinching love for family, a passion for living, and a wondrous outlook in spite of everything.

Elizabeth Gracen: Ute, welcome once again to Flapper Press. We are familiar with your poetry, but your newest work has truly piqued my interest! I would normally ask you to tell our readers a little bit about yourself, but since your new book, Time Did It, is a memoir, maybe it makes more sense to simply ask you what the book is about.

Ute Carson: I came to the Flapper Press through my poetry and am forever grateful to Elizabeth Gracen for inviting me into her flock of writers and readers. I am introducing my new book, Time Did It, which is a family saga placed into the historical context of two World Wars.

EG: Is this the first memoir you’ve written? How long did it take you to write, and when did you know that you were actually going to take on the daunting task of writing about your life?

UC: I have written about my childhood and the impact of living through a war and its aftermath in many of my stories, but this is the first time I have placed the events into an historical flow. I finished the book in two years, but since I have been writing since childhood ( I got my first story published in third grade), there was never a break in my writing.

EG: I’ve taken a few courses on memoir writing, dancing around the idea of writing one myself, but I just don’t have the inspiration to do it right now. Too scary! What was the most difficult aspect of writing the book? Did you share “everything,” or were you selective on what you wished to reveal about your life? How long did it take you to write?

UC: When I got old, memories bubbled up, and it seemed important to me that my family learned about them. I am also mindful of writing for a wider audience and how readers can relate to my experiences. Therefore I select what I include and what I omit [while] still being truthful to certain events.

EG: Time Did It weaves a tale of family throughout some of the most dramatic and horrific periods of history. What do you hope that readers come away with from reading the book? What did you discover about the world and your own life from writing it?

UC: I hope that readers learn that no matter which war or human conflict we write about, these are universal human problems. In tragedy as well as in healing, we are united in emotions.

EG: Would you share a few of your favorite passages from Time Did It? Tell me why these passages resonate with you?

UC: The story "He is my Brother" resonates with me since we are faced today again with similar questions. In the story, one brother leaves the security of Switzerland to join his brother at the Russian front, where they both get killed. Parallel runs the story where the same brother, Heio, protects a Jewish classmate from the Gestapo by telling the officer that "he is my brother." In the second part of the book, I praise grandparenthood, which doesn't mean that this task is for everyone. Only those who choose to involve themselves in being grandparents can know about the tremendous rewards that this stage in life can bring.

EG: Ute, thank you for taking the time to tell us about your latest work. Please tell our readers where they can find it and what you have planned for 2026! More poetry, I hope!

UC: Time Did It can be bought at any bookstore, or it can be ordered as a signed copy directly from me. Here is my website: utecarson.com. And yes, more poetry is already flowing from my pen!

Elizabeth Gracen is the owner of Flapper Press & Flapper Films.