DAY OF THE TRUMPET
By
David de Jong is at his best in his Dutch settings, -- witness Old Haven, which was unique in its class. Now comes a modern tale of one family in an old Friesland town, a large family with each member sharply and individually etched, and through their interrelationships, revealing the psychology of the Dutch people, in their certainty that promises given would be kept, in their hatred of the methods used when the break came, in their courage under the terror. There is no shock technique here, but a dignified and muted handling, which shows clearly the helplessness and hopelessness of an occupied nation. Family traditions reenforced by years spent in the country itself here bear fruit in a story as convincing as most eye witness records.