Memoir · 2026

Falling
With
Purpose

From postwar Germany to America — a true story of love across history, a business built from nothing, and a life lived with purpose.

Order Now Read a Sample Chapter
Early Reader Reviews
I

Deutschland

The postwar years. A love that crossed the deepest wound of the century.

II

The Atlantic

The leap. Leaving behind everything familiar to reach for something he couldn't yet name.

III

America

The life built. A business, a marriage, a family, a slow understanding of what it means to live with purpose.

Critical Acclaim

"A life story told with extraordinary honesty and hard-won grace. Norkus writes with the clarity of someone who has earned every word."

— Kirkus Reviews

What Readers Are Saying

"Quietly profound. A love story wrapped inside a larger story about what America offers those brave enough to choose it."

— Publishers Weekly

"The Jewish-German relationship at the center of this book is unforgettable. Norkus renders the impossible with rare grace and courage."

— NPR Books

"I read it in two sittings and thought about it for weeks. One of the most human books I've encountered in years."

— BookPage
Michael Norkus

The Author

Michael Norkus

Born in 1945 in postwar Germany, Michael Norkus arrived in America as a young man with little more than ambition and the memory of a love that had changed everything. He had fallen in love across the deepest historical wound of his century — a Jewish-German relationship that defied the weight of history — and that love showed him what he was capable of.

He built a business, raised a family, and lived for decades in the quiet certainty that his story was worth telling. At eighty, he wrote it down for the first time.

"I did not know what purpose meant until I had nearly run out of time to find it."

Read his full story →

About the Book

The Memoir

Born in 1945 in postwar Germany, Michael Norkus arrived in America with little more than ambition and the memory of a love that had changed him. He had fallen in love across the deepest historical wound of his century — a Jewish-German relationship that should not have been possible — and that love had shown him what he was capable of.

Falling With Purpose is the memoir of the life that followed: a business built from nothing in a country not his own, a family raised across two languages and cultures, and eight decades of living that finally demanded to be written down. It is a book about love, resilience, immigration, and the slow discovery of what we are here to do.

  • Immigration
  • Romance
  • Identity
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Purpose
Order Now →
Read a Sample Chapter →

Reading With Your Group?

Falling With Purpose is designed for discussion. Download the free guide with 12 questions written specifically for book clubs.

Download Free Discussion Guide Book a Virtual Author Visit