KRISTEN DEN HARTOG is a critically acclaimed novelist who has been called "a sort of literary younger sister to Alice Munro" ("Quill & Quire"). She is the author of "Water Wings," "The Perpetual Ending," and "Origin of Haloes." "The Occupied Garden," her first work of nonfiction, was written with her older sister, TRACY KASABOSKI, who was born in Rotterdam and first inspired den Hartog years ago with her own dramatic childhood stories.
""The Occupied Garden", written by two sisters, offers a window to
anyone who is interested in history, in this case the history of
Holland during World War II. It covers Hitler's rise to power, the
invasion of Holland, the five-year Occupation that followed, the
fate of the Jews and how the Dutch citizenry as a whole coped,
especially the authors' devoutly Christian grandparents. They would
have been proud of this beautifully crafted, meticulously
researched book." --Johanna Reiss, Newbery Honor Book Award-winning
author of "The Upstairs Room" and "A Hidden Life: A Memoir of
August 1969
""In this heroic gesture of recovery of family history, the authors
not only recreate their grandparents' world, but the horror of life
in Nazi-occupied Holland. History is retold in relentless detail
through the tragedies lived by people who become as real to us as
our own family. "The Occupied Garden" is a triumphant refusal to
accept the silence that erases the past." --Rosemary Sullivan,
author of "Villa Air-Bel: World War II, Escape, and a House in
Marseille
""A dramatic and moving account of the World War II occupation of
the Netherlands and its subsequent liberation." --Mark Zuehlke,
author of "Terrible Victory
""Truly gripping. . . . This is intimate history: the writers
recover not only the facts, but the tastes, smells, and lived
experiences of events that today almost defy belief." --"Quill &
Quire
""Personal, unsentimental, intensely compelling . . . these
reconstructed lives just hum with authenticity." --"The Globe &
Mail
""Moving and lyrical . . . If this book were less carefully crafted
and not as well written, it would be mere family history. Instead,
it's also the history of a country---and of the people who lived in
it during a terrible time." --"The Montreal Gazette
""A 'must-read' for students of modern history and anyone who grew
up in Europe during the Second World War." --"The Record
"
""The Occupied Garden," written by two sisters, offers a window to
anyone who is interested in history, in this case the history of
Holland during World War II. It covers Hitler's rise to power, the
invasion of Holland, the five-year Occupation that followed, the
fate of the Jews and how the Dutch citizenry as a whole coped,
especially the authors' devoutly Christian grandparents. They would
have been proud of this beautifully crafted, meticulously
researched book." --Johanna Reiss, Newbery Honor Book Award-winning
author of "The Upstairs Room" and "A Hidden Life: A Memoir of
August 1969
""In this heroic gesture of recovery of family history, the authors
not only recreate their grandparents' world, but the horror of life
in Nazi-occupied Holland. History is retold in relentless detail
through the tragedies lived by people who become as real to us as
our own family. "The Occupied Garden" is a triumphant refusal to
accept the silence that erases the past." --Rosemary Sullivan,
p
“"The Occupied Garden," written by two sisters, offers a window to
anyone who is interested in history, in this case the history of
Holland during World War II. It covers Hitler’s rise to power, the
invasion of Holland, the five-year Occupation that followed, the
fate of the Jews and how the Dutch citizenry as a whole coped,
especially the authors’ devoutly Christian grandparents. They would
have been proud of this beautifully crafted, meticulously
researched book.” --Johanna Reiss, Newbery Honor Book Award-winning
author of "The Upstairs Room" and "A Hidden Life: A Memoir of
August 1969
"“In this heroic gesture of recovery of family history, the authors
not only recreate their grandparents’ world, but the horror of life
in Nazi-occupied Holland. History is retold in relentless detail
through the tragedies lived by people who become as real to us as
our own family. "The Occupied Garden" is a triumphant refusal to
accept the silence that era
""The Occupied Garden," written by two sisters, offers a window to
anyone who is interested in history, in this case the history of
Holland during World War II. It covers Hitler's rise to power, the
invasion of Holland, the five-year Occupation that followed, the
fate of the Jews and how the Dutch citizenry as a whole coped,
especially the authors' devoutly Christian grandparents. They would
have been proud of this beautifully crafted, meticulously
researched book." --Johanna Reiss, Newbery Honor Book Award-winning
author of "The Upstairs Room" and "A Hidden Life: A Memoir of
August 1969
""In this heroic gesture of recovery of family history, the authors
not only recreate their grandparents' world, but the horror of life
in Nazi-occupied Holland. History is retold in relentless detail
through the tragedies lived by people who become as real to us as
our own family. "The Occupied Garden" is a triumphant refusal to
accept the silence that erases the past." --Rosemary Sullivan,
author of "Villa Air-Bel: World War II, Escape, and a House in
Marseille
""A dramatic and moving account of the World War II occupation of
the Netherlands and its subsequent liberation." --Mark Zuehlke,
author of "Terrible Victory
""Truly gripping. . . . This is intimate history: the writers
recover not only the facts, but the tastes, smells, and lived
experiences of events that today almost defy belief." --"Quill &
Quire
""Personal, unsentimental, intensely compelling . . . these
reconstructed lives just hum with authenticity." --"The Globe &
Mail
""Moving and lyrical . . . If this book were less carefully crafted
and not as well written, it would be mere family history. Instead,
it's also the history of a country---and of the people who lived in
it during a terrible time." --"The Montreal Gazette
""A 'must-read' for students of modern history and anyone who grew
up in Europe during the Second World War." --"The Record
"
"The family's struggles to endure terror, surveillance, bombing and
the edges of starvation have been pieced together with colour and
compassion. . . . Their story of war, dislocation and survival is
well and evocatively told."
- "London Free Press"
"Amazingly detailed and moving . . . it is the quintessential
Canadian story."
- "Ottawa Citizen
"
"Moving and lyrical . . . If this book were less carefully crafted
and not as well written, it would be mere family history. Instead,
it's also the history of a country - and of the people who lived in
it during a terrible time."
- "Montreal Gazette" "In this heroic gesture of recovery of family
history, the authors not only recreate their grandparents' world,
but the horror of life in Nazi Occupied Holland. History is retold
in relentless detail through the tragedies lived by people who
become as real to us as our own family. The Occupied Garden is a
triumphant refusal to accept the silence that erases the past."
- Rosemary Sullivan, author of "Villa Air-Bel: World War II,
Escape, and a House in Marseille"
"A dramatic and moving account of the World War II occupation of
The Netherlands and its subsequent liberation by Canadian troops as
seen through the lens of one Dutch family's experiences. The
Occupied Garden is a fine read."
- Mark Zuehlke, author of "Terrible Victory: First Canadian Army
and the Scheldt Estuary Campaign, September 13"-"November 6,
1944
""A personal, unsentimental, intensely compelling 'memoir.'. . .
The tiny, mundane details of these very ordinary lives are
brilliantly interwoven with the colossal events and backwash of
all-out war that move the story relentlessly,
sometimesbreathlessly, forward. . . . As in a painting by Seurat,
the masses ('dots') of information meticulously build up, slowly,
vividly, revealing the many personalities and the devastating
times."
- Ernest Hillen, "Globe and Mail"
"This is a fascinating, informative, beautifully written book."
- "Winnipeg Free Press" "From the Hardcover edition."
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