Margot Kelman

A TRUE STORY THAT BEGAN WITH A CHANCE MEETING AND SURVIVED A WORLD AT WAR

Marianne, a seventeen-year-old Jewish refugee who escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport, is living in a London hostel when she meets Gerson, a twenty-one-year-old American soldier stationed in England. Their first encounter sparks a romance that neither could have imagined. As World War II rages on, their relationship unfolds through stolen visits and heartfelt letters, each one a lifeline carefully saved in its original envelope.

When the war ends, Gerson returns to the United States. Marianne remains in a battered London, uncertain of her future, her parents’ fate, or whether love alone can bridge an ocean. With no phone calls and no guarantees, they rely solely on letters. 

In Not for Your Eyes, Margot Kelman brings her parents’ romance to life, weaving together the personal and historical, with the help of the hundreds of letters they left behind. Filled with longing, courage, faith, and devotion, the letters offer a vivid portrait of two determined hearts that refused to let distance or war extinguish their bond. A moving testament to resilience, optimism, and the enduring power of love, Gerson and Marianne’s story is proof that even after unimaginable darkness, hope can still find its way home.