TO DIE BEAUTIFUL

A real-life hero of the Dutch resistance gets a fictionalized life story.

In the early years of Germany’s occupation of the Netherlands, Hannie Schaft, a law student in Amsterdam, feels helpless. She wants to help her fellow countrymen and -women, but she’s not sure how. But before she knows it, a job volunteering with the refugee alliance becomes something bigger. The alliance is actually part of the resistance, and Hannie is recruited to become a full-fledged member. As the Nazis’ persecution of Dutch Jews intensifies, she moves home to Haarlem, bringing her Jewish friends Philine and Sonja with her. There, she learns how to shoot a gun and run undercover operations She quickly becomes such a notorious killer that the Nazis begin searching for the Girl with Red Hair. But as the war progresses, it becomes harder and harder for Hannie and her friends (and lover) in the resistance to survive Nazi persecution. Americans are likely unfamiliar with Schaft’s biography, and Jackson’s novel should bring a welcome renewal of attention to a particularly steely and heroic member of the European resistance. Unfortunately, Jackson, who has a Ph.D. in history and has previously published works of nonfiction, fails to do her subject justice. Her Hannie is constantly insecure and waiting for instruction from others, and when she does embark on a mission, things usually go so smoothly that she rarely feels at risk. The novel lacks a real sense of the suspense, dread, and, above all, the fury and despair that Schaft must have experienced. Strangely, many of the more complex missions Schaft participated in are relegated to an author’s note. These details would have given Schaft a deeper and more complex sense of personhood.

A misguided effort to resurrect a worthy historical figure.