Here, in the pages of this beautifully written epic, is the story of Else Krischner, a vigorous and effervescent woman who refuses to be imprisoned by society's rules and mores.When still a young woman, Else made two promises to to live life to the fullest, and to have a child with every man she loves. So here, too, are the stories of Fritz, Hans, and Erich—husbands, companions, lovers, and emissaries of a world in which men repeatedly prove self-absorbed, weak, and inadequate.Here are the stories of Peter, Bettina, and Angelika, Else's three children, born to three different fathers. Here, too, is World War I, then the roaring twenties —that prolonged orgasm of concerts, plays, and parties. Here are the ominous 1930s and the advent of Nazism, the dreadful racial laws, and, for Else, a Jew, exile in Bulgaria. But these dark years are also a time of experimentation, during which Else and her coevals explore alternative modes of interpersonal relationships. Here is a cast of vivid secondary characters—dreamers and intellectuals, artists and agitators. All these stories and their various players are held together by the forceful figure of a woman who is larger than life, almost mythological, and decidedly unforgettable. Else, however, will make a most human mistake when she tries to hide the real extent of the Nazi tragedy from her children, and instead of protecting them, will bring disaster down upon her family.A sweeping epic that spans the first half of the twentieth century, a novel praised as a German Gone with the Wind, You Are Not Like Other Mothers will delight and surprise readers from the first page to the last.