Overview

From the winner of the National Jewish Book Award

Theodore “Teddy” Hartigan is the scion of a wealthy Washington, D.C. family who place him into a comfortable job at the State Department and a placid diplomat’s career. In 1938, as Hitler’s inexorable rise continues, Teddy is re-assigned to the US Consulate in Amsterdam to replace fleeing staff.

Teddy’s job is to process visa applications, and by 1939, refugees from Nazi-conquered Poland, Austria, and other countries are desperate to secure safe passage to America. As Hitler sweeps through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, and Holland, the screws tighten and law after virulent law is passed to threaten the lives, indeed the very existence of the Jewish people. When Teddy and his girlfriend Sara are introduced to an orphaned young girl named Katy, who has been abandoned on the grounds of a nursery school, they agree to adopt her. Teddy comes to realize that he holds the key to saving lives, whether five, fifty, or five hundred—and makes the dangerous and selfless decision to join with underground groups and use his position at the Consulate to rescue those with no other avenue of escape.

Powerful and dramatic, National Jewish Book Award winner Ronald H. Balson’s A Place to Hide explores the deeply-moving actions of an ordinary man who resolves, under perilous circumstances, to make a difference.

Review

I love how this story unfolded! Teddy, is telling his story to a reporter in exchange for finding out who she is. She was sent to safety as a baby during the war. She knows nothing about herself. Teddy has connections and wants to leave behind his story for his grandchildren.

This is a unique tale told in two different time lines. It has lots of history that I had no idea about. Y’all know this is my favorite time period. But the setting of Amsterdam in the war is unusual. I did not know a lot of details of what happened in this area of the world.

Teddy works for the US consulate and he is in charge of all the visa applications. So, you can just imagine that his job is stressful. He ends up falling in love with a young Jewish girl and they have adopted an abandoned child. This leads them to help hide quite a few children when they are invaded by the Nazis. So, emotions run rampant in this novel.

The only reason for the four star rating is that I felt the ending was rushed. I wanted a bit more. This is minor, it just didn’t quite feel finished.

The narrator, Fred Berman, did an excellent job. There are quite a few different characters throughout this novel and he had a unique voice for every one.

Need a good WWII novel set in Amsterdam…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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