Winter in Wartime

Winter in Wartime is set in the final months of the Second World War, in occupied Holland. The village where 16 year-old Michiel lives with his family is still under Nazi control.  The Nazis’ behaviour is ever more brutal and reckless. Acts of resistance frequently bring execution. Michiel’s father is the village Mayor, so he thinks his family is safer than most.  When he is asked to take care of a wounded British Spitfire pilot he doesn’t hesitate to help.

When an act of murderous revenge takes place in the village, Michiel’s life is changed forever.  He joins the secret struggle against the Nazis, working every day to end the occupation and protect those in danger from it.  But he comes to suspect that there are spies and traitors in the village, undermining the cause of the resistance.  As Michiel becomes ever more involved, he knows that one loose word could cost him his life.

This is a classic of the Second World War, now translated from the original Dutch for the first time.  The climate of fear and suspicion is rendered perfectly and the episodic style draws the reader along towards the exciting climax.

Winter in Wartime is a thrilling, powerful and inspiring adventure story, based on the author’s own experiences as a child in Nazi-occupied Holland.