The War Of The Dutch
Dark Is The Night by Rachel Evans is a powerful historical novel that consumed me from the start.
This is a story of Dutch resistance during World War II. The novel alternates between a mother on a small island, and her son who is training to be a doctor in Amsterdam. They have similar but different wars. Both are spurred on by a tragedy that occurred.
The mother helps young men and downed airmen to escape across the sea. She provides a safe haven. She is a beacon of light shining and bringing hope at a dark time.
Her son uses his doctoring skills and also works on type-setting documents and leaflets for the resistance. “Words are a way to fight back.” As the war progresses, he needs to do more. He then helps Jewish people to move into hiding places either within the city or just outside it.
Both mother and son put their personal safety on the line. They find it more important to help others than to just sit idly by. Bonds formed in war will remain.
Although war is dreadful, we witness love blossoming. For one, it is a re-connection with her first love. For the other, it is a new love that seems forbidden at first. Life is uncertain. Happiness needs to be snatched.
All the characters were well drawn and believable. There were extraordinary acts of bravery at a time of pure evil.
Characters clung on to a hope that the war would end. The night was dark, but the morning would follow.
I found the following quote powerful in its’ simplicity. It is a haunting quote too:
“I’ve just witnessed a round-up… It’s the silence that I can’t forget.”
Dark Is The Night is a powerful read.
I received a free copy via Rachel’s Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
Dark is the Night
In Nazi-occupied Holland, a mother and son fight to survive.
When his sister Lotte dies of blood poisoning, Casper Van Doujke leaves his island home of Terschelling for Amsterdam. Blaming himself for Lotte’s death, he studies to become a doctor.
Meanwhile, his mother Elske Van Doujke’s quiet mourning for her daughter is interrupted when the Nazis occupy Terschelling. When a face from the past returns to the island, Elske has a final chance of happiness. But can she take it?
Mother and son join the Dutch resistance, risking everything for their people as they live through occupation and famine. In her remote cottage, Elske shelters young Dutch men trying to escape to England and Allied airmen attempting to avoid capture. In Amsterdam, Casper works as a doctor for the resistance and falls in love with the fiancée of his cell’s leader.
But when the war threatens those closest to them, Elske and Casper are forced to make impossible choices just to survive.
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Author Bio –
Since I was a little girl, I’ve always written stories (which I kept in a shoe box beneath my bed). Having cerebral palsy, I found an escape in writing and I still do. After doing a BA (Hons) in English and French and an MA in Modern Languages Research, I trained to be a newspaper journalist. I now work as a teaching assistant in a primary school where I share my love of writing with the children I teach. In my free time, I spend every moment I can writing. Escaping to the past, especially World War II, helps me cope with the stresses of life in the present.
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