title: A Tender Struggle: Story of a Marriage
author:  Krista Bremer 
description: <DIV><P>&ldquo;<I>My Accidental Jihad</I> is a bold piece of writing (and thinking) by an incredibly brave woman.&rdquo; &mdash;<B>Elizabeth Gilbert, author of <I>The Signature of All Things</I> and <I>Eat, Pray, Love</I></B><BR /><BR /> &ldquo;Utterly absorbing . . . A beautiful book.&rdquo; &mdash;<B>Cheryl Strayed, author of <I>Wild</I></B><BR /><BR /> &ldquo;Candid and rich.&rdquo; &mdash;<I><B>Good Housekeeping</B></I><BR /><BR /> &ldquo;Lucid, heartfelt and profoundly humane, <I>My Accidental Jihad</I> navigates the boundaries of religion and politics to arrive at the universal experience of love.&rdquo; &mdash;<B>G. Willow Wilson, author of <I>Alif the Unseen</I></B><BR /><BR /> &ldquo;A beautiful account of [Bremer&rsquo;s] jihad, or struggle, to find peace within herself and within her marriage.&rdquo; &mdash;<I><B>The Kansas City Star</B></I><BR /><BR /> &ldquo;Readers of memoir will welcome this love story about patience and kindness and learning the importance of putting culture first.&rdquo; &mdash;<I><B>Library Journal</B></I><BR /><BR /> &ldquo;A moving, lyrical memoir . . . A sweet and rewarding journey of a book.&rdquo; &mdash;<I><B>Kirkus Reviews</B></I><BR /><BR /> &ldquo;Told with rare honesty, <I>My Accidental Jihad</I> is the story of Krista Bremer&#39;s lifelong quest for insight and understanding, a search that leads her out of the Pacific surf to journalism school in North Carolina and through the complex challenges and unexpected joys of a cross-cultural marriage and family. This book is a powerfully personal account of the courage and hard work necessary to open one&#39;s heart and keep it that way.&rdquo; &mdash;<B>Maggie Shipstead, author of <I>Seating Arrangements</I></B><BR /><BR /> &ldquo;<I>My Accidental Jihad</I> is one of the most captivating and moving memoirs I&#39;ve read in years. The story Krista Bremer tells--one of radical foreignness between a married couple--could be a metaphor for all committed relationships.&rdquo; &mdash;<B>Haven Kimmel, author of <I>A Girl Named Zippy</I></B></P></DIV><BR /><br /><br /><DIV>
zlib_text: A RESTLESS couple sat on a blanket on a twisted, rusted
  
  
  girder, holding hands sadly, occasionally glancing toward
  
  
  the ancient ship at the pier in the distance, silent love
  
  
  islanded in a forest of broken steel madness. The girl
  
  
  moved nervously, stared through the bones of the
  
  
  shipyard, hating the ship that would take her Kurt away—
  
  
  Jager, a gray steel dragon specially evolved for the
  
  
  dealing of death, crouched, waiting beside the Hoch-und-
  
  
  Deutschmeister pier. Her hand tightened on his. She lifted
  
  
  it, rubbed her cheek against his knuckles, kissed them, and
  
  
  moved closer. He slipped his arm around her, lightly. Hers
  
  
  passed around his waist. The cool, moist fingers of their
  
  
  free hands entwined in her lap.
  
  
  
  
  
  They were Kurt and Karen Ranke, married eleven
  
  
  months, two weeks, and three days, and about to be
  
  
  parted by the warship—perhaps permanently. Both were
  
  
  tall and leanly muscular, blond, blue-eyed, almost stereo-
  
  
  typically Aryan, alike as brother and sist