Book Description

In MEANT TO BE, author Roslyn Franken reveals the unforgettable true story of her parents, John and Sonja Franken - two unlikely survivors of World War II. While John, a young Dutch naval recruit in the Dutch East Indies, is captured at sea by the Japanese and must fight for his life as a POW, Sonja is taken by the Nazis from her home in The Netherlands to endure the horrors of Auschwitz and a series of other Holocaust concentration camps. Remarkably, John survives the Nagasaki atomic bomb and miraculously, Sonja escapes death in the gas chambers on three separate occasions. After suffering endless tests of faith and fortitude at the hands of their brutal captors, the war ends and the two are brought together in the most extraordinary of circumstances to rebuild their lives as one based on love, trust and commitment. When Sonja is diagnosed with cancer and John suffers a massive heart attack, they triumph once again by calling on the same daring and determination that allowed them to survive the war. When diagnosed with cancer at 29, Roslyn turns to her parents' examples of daring and determination as inspiration in her own fight to beat cancer and become a long-term survivor. How did John and Sonja survive their captivity? How did they meet to find enduring love? What did Roslyn learn from her parents that can help us all live better lives? The answers to these questions and more are what make up the powerful story of MEANT TO BE. MEANT TO BE will capture your heart, uplift your spirit and open your mind to new possibilities, leaving you both spellbound and wonderfully inspired with universal messages on how to live a better life and make our world a better place.