Thanks to Rachel’s Random Rescources and the author for my gifted ebook to write my honest review
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.
Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Night-Nazi-occupied-Holland-survive-ebook/dp/B0FR4XTW45
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Night-Nazi-occupied-Holland-survive-ebook/dp/B0FR4XTW45
My Review
Historical fiction is one of my go-to genres. Dark is the Night ticks that box as well as another altogether different box! It is set in Holland, my second home, and that alone drew me to it. This is my first Rachel Evans book, so I didn’t know what to expect, really. I just kept an open mind and started reading.
Set in Terschelling and Amsterdam during the Second World War, we are introduced to Casper and Elske, his mother. After the Nazis occupy their Dutch island home, both mother and son join the Dutch Resistance. Casper is in Amsterdam, where he works as a doctor for the injured in the Resistance, and Elske is on Terschelling, where she shelters young Dutch men and Allied airmen who have been shot down. Casper falls in love with the fiancée of his Resistance cell leader, and Elske finds a chance to find happiness again, but will she grab it? They both find themselves faced with impossible choices to survive, but will they?
This book broke my heart. I was truly transported back to the days when evil roamed the streets of Europe. Both main characters tugged at my heartstrings straight away. I felt part of this powerful and emotional story. It makes it worse that my in -laws and their families actually survived this time in Holland. I know the history of the war, and I know the tales my father-in-law tells. But to read and feel like I was walking through this journey with Casper and Elske just enhanced how strong the Dutch were and how determined they were to help beat the Nazis.
Dark is the Night has left a mark on me, one that I am proud to have. Rachel Evans has skillfully woven a tale that blends fact and fiction together in a way where you can’t tell where one ends and the other begins. I am still thinking of this book long after I finished reading it. There should be more historical fiction about the smaller European-occupied countries!
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.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 