Communication and creativity as ways to bring about change.
BOOK: In My Grandfather's Shadow
The true story of three generations knotted together by events that took place in Nazi Germany: a grandfather who was a decorated general on the Eastern Front, her German-born mother and Angela herself.
In a rare confluence of memoir, psychology and historical detective story, Findlay's account of her unflinching quest for the truth about her grandfather breaks through the silence surrounding not only many of the Second World War's perpetrators but also its victims. In My Grandfather's Shadow explores the heritability of unresolved experiences. It questions deeply held perceptions of good and bad and uncovers the lesser-known history of the war's losers, their post-war culture of apology and atonement and the lingering legacy of shame – lessons that continue to be of huge relevance to humanity in the twenty-first century.
IN MY GRANDFATHERS SHADOW WAS PUBISHED BY PENGUIN TRANSWORLD IN JULY 2022.
AVAILABLE FROM MOST BOOKSHOPS OR ORDER YOUR COPY ONLINE HERE
TEDX TALK - FACING THE PAST TO LIBERATE THE PRESENT
‘Deeply moving, thought-provoking, brave, honest, articulate and truly enlightening....’
Based on her own research into her Anglo-German roots and Germany’s little-known process of coming to terms with its Nazi past, Angela describes the growing awareness of intergenerational trauma and the inheritability of unresolved emotions such as guilt or shame. Though such a journey into a dark past can be painful, she highlights the intensely healing nature of talking about difficult histories.
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TALKS on the vital roles of communication and art in rehabilitation, remembrance, reconciliation, resilience…
LATEST NEWS & POSTS
NEVER AGAIN: Is Britain’s Remembrance Culture Working?
Sunday 28th June, 13:45 – 14:45 Chalke Valley History Festival, Near Salisbury. NEVER AGAIN: Is Britain’s Remembrance Culture Working? Book Tickets Here
Evening Events in the Cemetery
Mon 15th – Thurs 18th June, 7pm Evening Events in the Cemetery Illustrated Talk: Book Tickets Guided Cemetery Walk: Book Tickets Angela Findlay and Nick Grellier In Conversation: Book Tickets
Conversations Across Time
13th -21st June 2026 Conversations Across Time Exhibition as part of Stroud Site Festival, The Vaults, Stroud Cemetery More information here.
In My Grandfather’s Shadow, The Royal British Legion Droxford & District Branch
11th May 2026, 7pm In My Grandfather’s Shadow, The Royal British Legion Droxford & District Branch
We Have Ways of Making You Talk podcast: How to Commemorate World War 2
James Holland & Al Murray in conversation with Angela Findlay & Henry Montgomery. Listen or watch on Spotify here and on other Podcast platforms
IN PROCESS… a life, a film, a book, an exhibition
27.9. – 05.10.25 & by appointment throughout October. Since 2019, I have been uncovering the life of my great great aunt, Joan Margaret Legge, an intrepid traveller and amateur botanist, whose tragic death in the Himalayas in 1939 still reverberates more than eighty years later. Through botanical plaster casts, drawings, a film and documented actions,…
14th/15th and 21st/22nd June, 11am-5pm daily – Stroud Open Studios,
Studio 2, Stroud Studios, 15 Gloucester St, Stroud, GL5 1QG For the first time in many years, I will be taking part in Stroud’s Site Festival and opening my new studio to visitors. I will be showing new works that use a multi-discipline approach to storytelling, as well as having a big sale of older paintings.…
15th May, 17.00 – 19.00 (UK time) – 43. Gesprächslabor, PAKH: The Study Group on Intergenerational Consequences of the Holocaust
In this German-language online event for PAKH members and with the 80th Anniversary of VE Day in mind, I will be exploring the intergenerational legacy of German soldiers. Unlike the military in Britain and much of the rest of the world, the German Wehrmacht soldiers who fought and died in WW2 are not remembered or…
8th May, 18.00 – 19.30 – Im Schatten Meines Großvaters / In My Grandfather’s Shadow Vortrag und Gespräch / Lecture and Conversation
Marktkirche, Hanns-Lilje-Platz, 30159 Hannover, Germany Info will be here in due course
Friday 2nd May, 12-1pm – The Second World War 80 years on: Is Remembrance Working? Angela Findlay and Henry Montgomery In Conversation
80 years on from the German surrender to the Allies, Henry Montgomery, grandson of Field Marshal Bernard ‘Monty’ Montgomery and Angela Findlay, granddaughter of General Karl von Graffen of the German Wehrmacht will reflect on their grandfathers’ roles and actions in WW2 and discuss the differences in the histories, legacies and remembrance cultures of the…
11th Apr – Friends of Droxford Church present ‘In Conversation with Angela Findlay’
Droxford, Hampshire In the approach to the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, I will be returning to the village in which I grew up to talk about my book, In My Grandfather’s Shadow and explore questions around the transgenerational impacts of war and Remembrance of WW2 going forward. Tickets here
26th Mar – HMP Brixton Book Group with Vulnerable Prisoners
Through the charity Prison Reading Groups branch, I will be presenting In My Grandfather’s Shadow to some of HMP Brixton’s prisoners. We will discuss themes relating to trauma, guilt, redemptionand writing one’s life story. With the dire state of our CJS constantly in the news, I am pleased for this chance to bring some creativity to those locked up…
5th Mar – 25th Apr – FEAST: A banquet of fabulous Fine Art for food lovers
The Sanctuary Gallery, High Street, Newnham-on-Severn, Glos. GL14 1BB As part of this group show, I will be showing 4 of my mixed media and oil paintings. More info here
13th Feb – Dresden 80th Anniversary of the Bombing, Dresden
As a Trustee of The Dresden Trust I was invited to attend the commemoration events there. It was profoundly moving and refreshingly future-orientated, youthful and international. Germany does remembrance well. You can read more about it in my BLOG.
12th Nov – ACTION TRAUMA ONLINE WEBINAR – Healing painful pasts…
Traumatic histories, both familial and national, are all too often wrapped in silence, blame or shame. For as long as they remain unresolved, their impact can be transmitted to the next generations with disruptive or even tragic outcomes. In this webinar Angela will share some of the steps and methods – from research and art to…
3rd Oct, Painswick, Glos – Sarah Dunant ‘IN CONVERSATION’ with Angela Findlay
Over the last twenty years, Sarah Dunant, best selling novelist, journalist, broadcaster and critic, has focused on the Italian Renaissance questioning the roll call of famous male names to reveal the influential role of women often overlooked, under written or rendered invisible in dominant historical narratives. Sarah and Angela discuss the revelations of history and how to turn…
6th June 2024 – Book Reading of Im Schatten Meines Großvaters, Buchhandlung Leporello, BERLIN
6th June 2024 Book Reading of Im Schatten Meines Großvaters, Buchhandlung Leporello, BERLIN
23rd May 2024 – Penned Up – A Book Festival in a Prison. In My Grandfather’s Shadow
23rd May 2024 Penned Up – A Book Festival in a Prison. At HMP Erlestoke, Devizes. In My Grandfather’s Shadow
21st March 2024 – HMP Wandsworth Library Event, London. In My Grandfather’s Shadow. Organised by Give a Book and Prison Reading Groups
21st March 2024 HMP Wandsworth Library Event, London. In My Grandfather’s Shadow Organised by Give a Book and Prison Reading Groups
