In this gripping, high-stakes novel of World War II, the bestselling author of Before the Storm draws on real events to tell the story of one womans daring role in the Dutch resistance as part of a most unusual taskforce.
May 1940: In the months since the war in Europe began, nineteen-year-old Aafke Cruyssen and her family have tried to carry on as normalrunning their modest grocery store in Eindhoven, hoping that Germany will leave Holland alone as it did during the Great War.
But this time, Holland will not be spared. The invasion comes, swift and merciless, and Dutch forces are easily overpowered. In Eindhoven, a valuable transport and trade hub, Nazi soldiers swagger through the streets. Aafkes one glimpse of humanity comes from a young German corporal who intervenes when a gang of looters tries to rob her familys shop.
Aafke joins the Dutch resistance and is drawn into a relationship with its charismatic leader. Wanting more than the menial missions assigned to women, she and her friends create a taskforce of their owna dating club where women target Nazis, luring them to their arrest or death. Discovery by the Gestapo will mean torture and execution. Just as dangerous is the reappearance of the soldier who once helped her family. Otto Berg is now an influential Nazi commando, intrigued by Aafkes fragile courage.
As the conflict deepens, so does Aafkes quandary. The tides of war continue to bring her and Otto into each others circles. And beyond the battles that make history are countless sacrifices and unthinkable choices she must make for the sake of the resistance, and to save her own life and those she loves.
Genre: Historical
May 1940: In the months since the war in Europe began, nineteen-year-old Aafke Cruyssen and her family have tried to carry on as normalrunning their modest grocery store in Eindhoven, hoping that Germany will leave Holland alone as it did during the Great War.
But this time, Holland will not be spared. The invasion comes, swift and merciless, and Dutch forces are easily overpowered. In Eindhoven, a valuable transport and trade hub, Nazi soldiers swagger through the streets. Aafkes one glimpse of humanity comes from a young German corporal who intervenes when a gang of looters tries to rob her familys shop.
Aafke joins the Dutch resistance and is drawn into a relationship with its charismatic leader. Wanting more than the menial missions assigned to women, she and her friends create a taskforce of their owna dating club where women target Nazis, luring them to their arrest or death. Discovery by the Gestapo will mean torture and execution. Just as dangerous is the reappearance of the soldier who once helped her family. Otto Berg is now an influential Nazi commando, intrigued by Aafkes fragile courage.
As the conflict deepens, so does Aafkes quandary. The tides of war continue to bring her and Otto into each others circles. And beyond the battles that make history are countless sacrifices and unthinkable choices she must make for the sake of the resistance, and to save her own life and those she loves.
Genre: Historical
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