It reads like a screenplay and I hope it gets made into a feature film…
The story of Rachel Klein, a teenaged Jewish girl in Amsterdam during the second World War, is the culmination of 13 years of investigation and research by Vermont author Mary Fillmore. Her effort has brought forth a very heart-moving tale of intrigue and heartbreak. While it is considered historical fiction, the book is a vivid portrayal of a population faced with grim choices: cooperation, collaboration or resistance.
The conditions under which the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands took place were an ever-changing daily disintegration. Some foresaw the inevitable and fled the country. Others were swept up in mass arrests, murdered or disappeared into hiding. This book takes you there and places you directly in the midst of an insecure world fueled by irrational anti-Semitism.
The author, not a Jew herself, was moved to take action in 2002 after realizing that the home she was staying in while on a pleasure trip to Amsterdam was once inhabited by the family she went on to write about. Thirteen years later she completed her initial effort in the publication of a remarkable book. Now, she shares that commitment even further in presenting talks and programs on her experiences and her work.
