A Fondness for Truth is now officially launched into the world! The Münstergass bookstore co-owners Susanne Bühler and Monika Steiner sponsored the launch, which was held in Bern’s PROGR (short for Progymnasium), a former school building that has been turned into an artists’ cooperative and cultural center. In front of an audience of fifty, myContinue reading “How Stories Take Shape”
Category Archives: Bern
In Praise of Midwives
When I moved to Switzerland thirty-six years ago, I didn’t know anyone still practiced midwifery—I thought the profession had gone the way of blacksmithing. Five years later, I walked into Bern’s teaching hospital to give birth to my son and met my first midwife. She was with me during and after the birth and madeContinue reading “In Praise of Midwives”
Switzerland’s Junkyard Playgrounds
When I was eight, we lived in a neighborhood that was still being built. Our narrow suburban street had families living on either side in small concrete houses with carports and tidy front yards. But only a few blocks away, there were half-built homes and vacant lots. We children—mostly boys, but I wasn’t the onlyContinue reading “Switzerland’s Junkyard Playgrounds”
Trials Reconsidered
Until I watched a man in Bern being tried for attempted murder, I assumed trials required juries. But Switzerland doesn’t use juries; instead, it holds bench trials, where judges alone decide if defendants are innocent or guilty. I did some research to find out more about trials in Bern. I learned that juries generally existContinue reading “Trials Reconsidered”
‘Tis the Season
This year, Bern’s Christmas season started on December 3, the first day of Advent. The official purpose of Advent is to celebrate the coming of Christ with four Sunday services before December 25, but since few Swiss attend church, it’s a time for feeling festive and getting a head start on baking the many sortsContinue reading “‘Tis the Season”
Bern Learns to Eat Pumpkins
Countless things, big and small, serious and frivolous, have changed since I moved to Bern thirty-five years ago. The people filling the city’s streets are no longer 98% white, and grocery stores now offer shelves full of Thai, Chinese, Indian, and Mexican food. There are many popular East- and South-Asian restaurants and even one Ethiopian place;Continue reading “Bern Learns to Eat Pumpkins”
Under Cover
Don’t judge a book by its cover. Are you kidding? Of course we judge a book by its cover. Not if it’s by a favorite author, perhaps, but when we’re browsing in a bookstore or even online for a novel by a new writer, we look for covers that appeal to us. So I’m delightedContinue reading “Under Cover”
SONS AND BROTHERS in the Old City
I haven’t had a chance to tell you about a launch for Sons and Brothers that took place some weeks ago at a small bookstore in Bern’s Old City (Altstadt). The Münstergass-Buchhandlung sells mostly German-language books, but its two delightful women owners were still happy to hold an event for my second mystery. The shopContinue reading “SONS AND BROTHERS in the Old City”
School’s Out!
Memory is unreliable—we all know that—but my childhood summer vacations seemed endless. I remember getting out of school at the end of June and not returning until the beginning of September: three months of pure fun. And, I now realize, three months of stress for parents who had to figure out what to do withContinue reading “School’s Out!”
Living Next Door to Bern’s Bears
I was recently invited to join a tour of Bern’s bear park, and I learned so much about the city’s bears that I thought I’d share some of it with you. It’s a story with a happy ending for the bears but also a reminder of how cruel supposedly civilized people can be to animals. InContinue reading “Living Next Door to Bern’s Bears”
Kim Hays 