The Cut Out Girl
A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Published:10th Jan '19
Should be back in stock very soon
A harrowing true story about a young girl's struggle to survive Nazi persecution, and a man's attempt to unveil his family's secrets.
WINNER OF THE COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018
WINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2018
A SUNDAY TIMES PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR 2019
'A masterpiece of history and memoir' Evening Standard
'Superb. This is a necessary book - painful, harrowing, tragic, but also uplifting' The Times
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Little Lien wasn't taken from her Jewish parents in the Hague - she was given away in the hope that she might be saved. Hidden and raised by a foster family in the provinces during the Nazi occupation, she survived the war only to find that her real parents had not. Much later, she fell out with her foster family, and Bart van Es - the grandson of Lien's foster parents - knew he needed to find out why.
His account of tracing Lien and telling her story is a searing exploration of two lives and two families. It is a story about love and misunderstanding and about the ways that our most painful experiences - so crucial in defining us - can also be redefined.
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'Luminous, elegant, haunting - I read it straight through' Philippe Sands, author of East West Street
'Deeply moving. Writes with an almost Sebaldian simplicity and understatement' Guardian
'Sensational and gripping . . . shedding light on some of the most urgent issues of our time' Judges of the Costa Book of the Year 2018
Astonishing. Van Es has created a masterpiece of history and memoir, concluding on a note of reconciliation, hope and great love * Evening Standard *
An extraordinary, harrowing story of loss, survival and love * Guardian *
Deeply moving, this is a remarkable memoir * Sunday Times *
Powerful . . . extraordinary * Irish Times *
Brought to lifewith 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 *
Remarkable - the story of one traumatic childhood, deeply moving, and told with greatdexterity, allowing the wisdoms of today to run parallel with the absorbing narrative of wartimeevents * Penelope Lively *
Compassionate and thoughtfullyrendered, the book is both a memorable portrait of a remarkablewoman and a testament to the healing power of understanding. A complex and uplifting tale * Kirkus *
A nuanced, moving, and unusual "hidden child" account * Publishers Weekly *
Superb. This is a necessary book - painful, harrowing, tragic, but also uplifting * The Times Book of the Week *
Fascinating, beautifully written. Van Es carefully salvagesLien's story and creates a deeply moving and complex book about war, atrocity and human suffering * The Oldie *
Sensational and gripping . . . shedding light on some of the most urgent issues of our time * Judges of the Costa Book of the Year Prize 2018 *
Luminous, elegant, haunting - I read it straight through * Philippe Sands, Author of East West Street *
Deeply moving. Writes with an almost Sebaldian simplicity and understatement * Guardian *
Harrowing and beautiful * Bookseller *
An awe-inspiring account of the tragedies and triumphs within the world of the Holocaust's "hide-away" children, and of the families who sheltered them * Georgia Hunter, author of We Were the Lucky Ones *
The Cut Out Girl is a reminder of the extraordinary richness of archives and the treasures released by scholarly research * TLS *
An extraordinary story, harrowing, deeply affecting. This fascinating story is guaranteed to haunt you * People *
A moving story of personal and family history, with a scholar's objective eye for the bigger picture. * Irish Times *
Harrowing . . . profoundly moving * Daily Express *
ISBN: 9780241978726
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 18mm
Weight: 233g
288 pages