A captivating look at the cultural divisions that existed in the Netherlands during World War II.
In van Zanten’s historical novel, a Dutch police officer struggles with the moral dilemmas presented by Nazi occupation.
In 1940, Jacob Van Noorden is a 35-year-old father of two and the chief of police in Overdam in the Netherlands. When the German army invades, he is horrified by the brazen violation of the nonaggression pact the Netherlands maintains with Germany, but he is assured by a German officer that the Nazi presence won’t be burdensome and that Dutch Jews will remain unmolested. However, this turns out be a prevarication; the Nazis rule Overdam like despotic conquerors, appropriating whatever property they please and relentlessly propagandizing the population. Moreover, they zealously hunt for Jews and demand that the local police help round them up. Jacob resists these orders, but his superiors abdicate their authority: “The abandonment and the devious manipulations by his own command took his breath away.” When he hears rumors about what happens to the arrested Jews in places like Auschwitz, he despairs. However, as the title of this meticulously researched novel indicates, Jacob is presented only with miserable options, as a failure to collaborate could cost him the job he desperately needs or even his life. The depiction of the cultural and political predicament in the Netherlands is illuminating; while many bravely resisted the Nazi scourge, Dutch society was steeped in antisemitism, and many welcomed the Nazis with open arms. Jacob’s mother-in-law, Johanna, a German-born woman, admires Hitler, and his brother-in-law, Juergen, joins the Nazi Party. Van Zanten’s story is drawn from actual events—Jacob’s character is based on her own father, and a moving sense of personal authenticity is generated by the author’s connection to the plot as well as her deep knowledge of Dutch history and culture. The book runs a bit long—it approaches 500 pages—and the plot suffers from too many digressions and an occasionally laggard pace. The author’s writing style is anodyne, largely lacking poetic flair. Still, this is a fascinating and historically edifying novel.
A captivating look at the cultural divisions that existed in the Netherlands during World War II.Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2021
ISBN: 9781592111022
Page Count: 524
Publisher: Addison & Highsmith
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Falls short of Crichton’s many blockbusters, but fun reading nonetheless, especially for those interested in the early days...
In 1876, professor Edward Cope takes a group of students to the unforgiving American West to hunt for dinosaur fossils, and they make a tremendous discovery.
William Jason Tertullius Johnson, son of a shipbuilder and beneficiary of his father’s largess, isn’t doing very well at Yale when he makes a bet with his archrival (because every young man has one): accompany “the bone professor” Othniel Marsh to the West to dig for dinosaur fossils or pony up $1,000, but Marsh will only let Johnson join if he has a skill they can use. They need a photographer, so Johnson throws himself into the grueling task of learning photography, eventually becoming proficient. When Marsh and the team leave without him, he hitches a ride with another celebrated paleontologist, Marsh’s bitter rival, Edward Cope. Despite warnings about Indian activity, into the Judith badlands they go. It’s a harrowing trip: they weather everything from stampeding buffalo to back-breaking work, but it proves to be worth it after they discover the teeth of what looks to be a giant dinosaur, and it could be the discovery of the century if they can only get them back home safely. When the team gets separated while transporting the bones, Johnson finds himself in Deadwood and must find a way to get the bones home—and stay alive doing it. The manuscript for this novel was discovered in Crichton’s (Pirate Latitudes, 2009, etc.) archives by his wife, Sherri, and predates Jurassic Park (1990), but if readers are looking for the same experience, they may be disappointed: it’s strictly formulaic stuff. Famous folk like the Earp brothers make appearances, and Cope and Marsh, and the feud between them, were very real, although Johnson is the author’s own creation. Crichton takes a sympathetic view of American Indians and their plight, and his appreciation of the American West, and its harsh beauty, is obvious.
Falls short of Crichton’s many blockbusters, but fun reading nonetheless, especially for those interested in the early days of American paleontology.Pub Date: May 23, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-247335-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
A smart and engaging literary thriller that bears down too hard on its themes.
At the home of an eccentric millionaire, a woman discovers out-of-the-ordinary events.
When her husband is invited to finish writing his book at the island home of a reclusive millionaire, Anna is relieved: If he sells it, they’ll be able to keep their Bronx apartment and she won’t have to go back to work at the laundry. It’s 1918, and Charles Fort—based on a real-life figure—is hard at work on a book about unexplained phenomena, such as objects falling from a clear sky: frogs, for example, or even bits of flesh, or blood. If Anna has doubts about the legitimacy of his research, she keeps them to herself. In any case, when the millionaire Claude Arkel offers the couple a place to stay for the winter, they eagerly accept. Almost immediately, though, things seem to be off. Arkel runs a school for wayward girls, and three students are missing. Meanwhile, there’s no sign of Arkel himself, and with the Spanish flu raging in the outside world, the Forts are stuck in quarantine. Bakis’ latest novel has the pacing and suspense of a smart literary thriller: It’s almost impossible to put down once you’ve started it. But Bakis can be heavy-handed in her treatment of the themes that undergird her story—in this case, women who support ambitious men. That’s not to say Bakis’ case doesn’t hold water, but she strikes the same note again and again in a way that is more repetitive than satisfying. So, for example, when the Forts first arrive on Arkel’s island, and Charles observes that the grand house is “modeled on the Château de Chambord in the Val de Loire” and Anna responds, “I know, I’m the one who showed you the article,” the mansplaining moment isn’t nearly as funny as it was apparently intended to be; it's just frustrating, in a teeth-grinding way.
A smart and engaging literary thriller that bears down too hard on its themes.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781324093534
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Liveright/Norton
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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