Heather’s Bookshelf: Over the Hedge
Author: Paulette Mahurin
Released: 7/31/21
Genre: Historical Fiction
“She contemplated what her future would be. As long as I live, who knows what possibility awaits. Just as she wouldn’t give up on the children, she wouldn’t give up the idea that a day would come when Plantage Middenlaan was free of marching Nazi boots, when the Netherlands was free of German occupation, and when the world was rid of oppressive tyrannical leaders.”
“Over the Hedge” is based on actual events and takes place at the height of the German occupation of the Netherlands in 1943 and recounts some of the atrocities that occurred in Amsterdam at the time. The focus of the story is on the heroics of a few brave souls who did what they could to save who they could.
Jewish families are rounded up by Nazis and sent to their deaths or murdered in front of their loved ones. Children are smuggled away in an attempt to prevent them from succumbing to the same fate as their families. People in opposition to Hitler or sympathetic to those he wishes to exterminate work together to save as many as they can and while many contribute, Walter Süskind, Henriëtte Pimentel, and Johan van Hulst lead the way.
The children are smuggled to a daycare and then over a hedge in the backyard to a college. From there, they are delivered to families who wish to help. The dangers are at every corner and plans must be made to prevent capture or prevention of helping others.
Trigger Warning: Murder, death, racism- basically the worst things human beings can do to other human beings
Overall, this story was horrifying, hopeful, and important. The author does an amazing job of twisting the most terrible of horrors with the optimism of chance and hope to relay a rainbow of emotion. It’s not a fun read! But it is thought-provoking, reflective, and inciteful. It’s the kind of book that people should read to forever prevent the same kinds of horrors from ever happening again. It’s the kind of book to make me tear up when reading (which is not a usual occasion). It is also the book to remind us of the power of what the individual can do and the positive impact one can make on those around them with a truly selfless act. The ending is what you would expect from such a book, but it does a nice job in stating what happens with some of the brave men and women.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A brutal, though important, piece of history based on a true story and told through the eyes of three selfless men and women.
Want to learn more about the author?
Check out my interview with Paulette Mahurin
Interested in checking out the book for yourself?
Find it for purchase here or on Kindle Unlimited
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