A review by gabiloue
The Cut Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found by Bart van Es

2.0

An emotional story told with a detached air, Bart van Es' novel "The Cut Out Girl" kind of follows the author's journey to the Netherlands to find out more about his family's connection with a young child (Lien) during the Holocaust, and also kind of follows that child's story. Neither narrative really cuts deep with the reader though, and instead makes it glaringly obvious that the reader is only seeing the story from a very outside perspective. Even when van Es attempts to relate his personal family drama to Lien's, he instead creates an entire narrative that seems random and rather selfish in the face of all this young girl has to go through during the war.

Though a poignant tale (and one that's very important to learn about), all poignancy and emotion is lost in the author's vapid storytelling. It;s a beautifully done book, but there's honestly not much there.