From Coffee to Champagne to Coconuts

by Brigitte Kassa

Brigitte Kruger Kassa has lived a life that resembles adventure fiction. This autobiography is a page turner that begins during WW II and continues on a global scale to its conclusion on a small Caribbean island. Born in Berlin in 1939, her early years were spent in war torn Germany. WW II and its aftermath disrupted her family's life and when she was age 19, Brigitte struck out on her own. She survived life threatening challenges before eventually ending up in Monte Carlo as manager / part owner of a gypsi night club. The club was favored by jet setters of the 1960's and clientele included such names as Onassis, Zas Zsa Gabor, and many other famous individuals. " Brigitte met a successful businessman at her club who became her life partner and she moved to his home in New Jersey, USA. His international business took them to virtually every corner of the world and many stories are included in the book of the fascinating people they met. During their courtship, Brigitte told her future husband of her dream to live on a tropical island and as they traveled the world, they began exploring tropical locations. They selected Little Cayman, a remote Caribbean island with no roads, no electricity, and no retail businesses as a place to settle. The balance of the book details the many challenges faced in pioneering settlement in this tropical paradise where Ms. Kassa continues to make her home.

461 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 21, 2018

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met this remarkable woman while diving on Little Cayman in the Seahorse Gift shop. She had lived on the island for almost 50 years, yet she was from Germany via many other countries. I asked her to tell me her story curious to know more about her. She recommended reading it in the book that she wrote. I was "not" disappointed. It was so fascinating I could not put it down! I finished it in a couple of days yet I thought about every day afterward. I was impressed by her courage, curiosity and her ability to bring you into her world through her autobiography. A must read if you are adventurous. What a life and what a perfect place to land, Little Cayman.

[Clive Titcomb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The open insights into Brigitte’s extraordinary life never stop to draw the reader forward into new worlds and experiences. So many lives lived in one book. So many adventures. And in amongst all the travels and travails, a remarkable and alluring peace found in the creation of her Little Cayman paradise. It’s a desperate shame, the very place Brigitte called paradise, Kingston Bight, is now to become a huge hotel for moneyed visitors.

[Brigitte Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was drawn to Brigitte Kassa's book, because I was curious about how she lived and survived on little Cayman Island before it was developed. Her life on the island, with her charismatic husband Basil and friends she made in the other island residents, was daring and adventurous and very fun to read about. But I was equally drawn in by her life prior to the island adventure. She grew up during WWII in Germany and endured much hardship in her early life, and this period is described beautifully and vividly. The next phase of her life was spent in Monte Carlo, where she and her first husband, operated a nightclub and lived the high life, meeting many famous and interesting people. The "champagne phase" and the associated life, and the equally fancy one which followed in the United States, Basil's home base, did not keep Brigitte from dreaming of a quiet island paradise.

It was amazing to me how quickly Brigitte and Basil settled into island life, so different from the first-class travel and accommodations they were used to, and how much they enjoyed the hard physical labor and other challenged they encountered on Little Cayman. Brigitte describes the very different phases of her life in a way that makes it easy for the reader to connect and be drawn in. The entire book was fun to read and it was hard to put it down.

[Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book filled with so much adventure it's hard to believe it's a true story. The heroine of this book will take you through World War 2, then off to rub elbows with the worlds most elite people in the 1950's and end up in a tropical paradise. Brigitte is a truly inspirational character that always manages to be determined, aware of her surroundings, and true to herself in a time which was much less forgiving of independently minded women. If you like the Outlander series, you will love this book!

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to learn more about the Caymans