The Cut Out Girl A Story Of War And Family, Lost And Found

Author: Bart van Es

Stock information

General Fields

  • : 22.99 AUD
  • : 9780241978726
  • : Penguin Books
  • : Penguin Books
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  • : 0.233
  • : May 2019
  • : 1.8 Centimeters X 12.9 Centimeters X 19.8 Centimeters
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  • : 22.99
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  • :
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Bart van Es
  • : Paperback
  • :
  • : 288
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Barcode 9780241978726
9780241978726

Description

The last time Lien saw her parents was in the Hague when she was collected at the door by a stranger and taken to a city far away to be hidden from the Nazis. She was raised by her foster family as one of their own, but a falling out well after the war meant they were no longer in touch. What was her side of the story, Bart van Es - a grandson of the couple who looked after Lien - wondered? What really happened during the war, and after? So began an investigation that would consume and transform both Bart van Es's life and Lien's. Lien was now in her 80s and living in Amsterdam. Reluctantly, she agreed to meet him, and eventually they struck up a remarkable friendship. The Cut Out Girl braids together a powerful recreation of Lien's intensely harrowing childhood story with the present-day account of Bart's efforts to piece that story together. And it embraces the wider picture, too, for Holland was more cooperative in rounding up its Jews for the Nazis than any other Western European country; that is part of Lien's story too. This is an astonishing, moving reckoning with a young girl's struggle for survival during war. It is a story about the powerful love and challenges of foster families, and about the ways our most painful experiences - so crucial in defining us - can also be redefined. 

Awards

Costa Book Awards Biography 2018

Reviews

An extraordinary story, harrowing, deeply affecting. This fascinating story is guaranteed to haunt you. --People The Cut Out Girl is a reminder of the extraordinary richness of archives and the treasures released by scholarly research. --TLS Superb. This is a necessary book - painful, harrowing, tragic, but also uplifting. --The Times Book of the Week Harrowing and beautiful --Bookseller A nuanced, moving, and unusual "hidden child" account. --Publishers Weekly Fascinating, beautifully written. Van Es carefully salvages Lien's story and creates a deeply moving and complex book about war, atrocity and human suffering. --The Oldie Brought to life with family photographs and diary entries that add further impact to Lien's harrowing memories and testimony - this deeply affecting and fascinating story is guaranteed to haunt you. --Sunday Mirror  'Luminous, elegant, haunting - I read it straight through' Philippe Sands, author of East West Street 'Superb. This is a necessary book - painful, harrowing, tragic, but also uplifting' --The Times Book of the Week  'Remarkable, deeply moving' Penelope Lively 'Amazing, deeply affecting, will haunt you' --Sunday Mirror