Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Holland, 1943: the Nazis are in occupation. German soldiers patrol the streets, and each week more families disappear without trace, never to be seen again. So when armed soldiers storm Sofie’s house and threaten her father at gunpoint, she knows their time – and luck – has run out.
Fleeing in the middle of the night to hide in a neighbour’s secret attic, the constant threat of a German raid means they can’t stay long. So Sofie’s parents make the heart-rending decision to send their daughter away. Concealed in the woods is a secret village, built by the town as a haven for Jewish families like Sofie’s. Remote, cold and bleak, yet filled with the hopeful laughter of children playing, it is the one place Sofie has the chance to live.
But rumours of the hidden village have been swirling, and the Nazis are determined to find it. As soldiers patrol the woods in ever-greater numbers, snow cuts the villagers off from the outside world and starvation sets in. Sofie knows what she must do, even though it means putting herself in danger. And when the worst happens, Sofie is faced with a terrible decision – save the village, or save herself…
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Hidden Village to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Hidden Village is the second book that I have recently read by Imogen Matthews set in Holland during World War Two. Again as with her previous book I found it interesting to read a book set in Holland during the war as not many books in this genre are set in this country. The book is split into six parts detailing one community’s bravery, sacrifices and struggles during the war showing how no-one, no matter how small or insignificant, wasn’t left unaffected by the actions of one man’s quest for power and hatred for those he deemed unworthy of society or life.
The Hidden Village is a quick read with a very large cast of characters. It does become confusing to keep track of all the people mentioned and there are a lot of minor stories that flow out from the main plot. At times I felt the story jumped around a lot from one person to another rather too quickly. A few more pages or chapters focusing on one or more specific people before moving to the next set of characters would have been beneficial as the jumping around made the story feel disjointed at times. Essentially this is a good read with an important story and message to tell and it is told well even though I would say I think preferred the previous read from this author - The Girl Across the Wire Fence.
Jan Mulder is 11 and lives in the village of Kampenveld with his brother Oscar and parents Sara and Max. Sara is British but has lived in Holland for many years. There is an air of innocence surrounding Jan as he loves to spend his days in the woods with his friends Nico and Lex playing, hiding and making dens. But times are changing and the atmosphere is one of danger, unrest, unease and suspicion. War has broken out and Jews amongst many other members of society are being singled out. Jan is angry at what is unfolding in the world and at what is clearly approaching ever nearer into the heart and soul of the local community. Despite being so young he is determined to wage his own war against the wrongs being meted out to so many of his fellow country men.
A lot of the focus of the story is on Jan and how though he may be small he is mighty in that he sees the bigger picture and wants to help in any way he can. Others may view him as an insignificant boy but he has a huge part to play in the overall plot of the book. At times you would almost forget that he was so young given the situations he finds himself in. Rescuing and hiding British and American pilots, engaging in providing food for those that need it and helping his mother when her husband abandons her and they in turn go on to shelter Jews and refugees escaping unspeakable horrors. Jan is a stand out character and even though many adults feature in the book, it is the younger cast of characters that are the most impressive and noteworthy for their actions, determination, bravery, strength and courage.
Sofie is only 15 but yet knows that being a Jew means the stability and security in her life is slipping away. Soldiers arrive to her house to inspect her family’s papers and this time they are lucky and are not taken away. But how long will they remain safe given there are rumours of so many being taken away to camps where the truth of the untold horrors that occur there are not yet common knowledge? Restrictions to her freedom soon become common place and she finds herself separated from her parents. They have to stay with others away from their village but there was no space for Sofie. You can’t begin to even imagine what it must have been like to have your freedom taken from you simply because of your beliefs let alone the fact that you have to be separated from those that you love. There are numerous stories in this book that tell of this situation with Sofie’s being the dominant one. Again as with Jan, I felt she was older and wiser than her years. Yes, she mightn’t initially have had those traits but she soon came to have them in abundance when she realises now is the time for her to really grow up and put her own issues of love (the love she has for Oscar) aside and work with the hidden community that emerges to fight for their very existence.
The sense of community that exists in Kampenveld really emerges the further you delve into the book. The Dutch resistance is hard at work and it really comes into its own when it becomes evident that there are refugees flooding into their village but also that members of their own tightknit community need refuge. A village is built deep within the woods and that is what gives the book its title. Hidden far from prying eyes, those being the eyes of the German soldiers who patrol daily looking for those that are on their wanted list. The village grows and expands with parts of it built underground and the majority of the story follows how it was kept hidden, how food was brought in and how everyone worked together to keep those that had to live there safe. Caution, being wary and on a high alert at all times were the key factors. One small slip and everything could come crashing down and all their work to keep those they knew and so many others safe would have all been for nothing.
Sofie acted like a spoilt child at first, like she didn’t want to be in the village, like she would have preferred to take her chances. This only served to show her immaturity but as I have said she does grow in strength and character as the story moves forward. At around the halfway point, I was thinking in which direction is the plot ultimately going in? There was a lot of repetition of daily life in the camp and I was waiting for something dramatic and plot changing to happen. As first mentioned there were a lot of characters mentioned both those who lived in the camp, Jan and his family and many others working as a unit to keep the whereabouts and knowledge of the camp secret. But I felt at several points that I had missed important information when in fact I hadn’t. It was just that things jumped forward without specifics being actually said until after an event had taken place and even then mentioned in only one line where much more was needed to add cohesion and depth to certain junctures in the story.
What struck me whilst reading was how on earth did the Germans not know of or if they did hear rumours how did the village remain undiscovered for so long? I know the characters who built it were playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the army that could have been exposed at any moment but I still couldn’t fathom how the village remained undetected for as long as it did. Knowing this village is not just a work of fiction adds to the remarkable feats of bravery during the war. Before reading this book if you had told me that such a place successfully existed for the length of time that it did during the war I wouldn’t have believed you at all. It really served to highlight the courage and tenacity shown by a group of people in the face of such adversity and danger and how they would have done anything for those that needed help and to be hidden. These were brave, ordinary citizens who did remarkable things in extraordinary times of war and horror.
The Hidden Village was a good read although as I have said not my favourite out of the two books I have read by this author. The climax of the book was brutal in its descriptions and it needed to be and this where the depth I had wanted finally began to appear but it felt that it was coming too late. The climax itself set in motion another chain of life altering and terrible events but as I neared the end I thought everything was far too rushed and I was left with lots of questions regarding the characters being mentioned. I could see why certain things happened but I think even more explanation was needed and time for a new character to absorb and question things even further than they were allowed to. I sense there is perhaps a follow up book in the offing that may give the answers I seek. All in all, The Hidden Village is an interesting, thought provoking read.
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