Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by theliterateleprechaun
The Girl Across the Wire Fence by Imogen Matthews
5.0
This is NOT just another novel about a concentration camp.
The Girl Across the Wire Fence is a five-star historical fiction novel based on a true story of those who risked their lives to smuggle prisoners’ letters in and out of one of the largest, yet little known, concentration camps in Holland during World War Two. Kamp Amersfoort was a German concentration camp in Holland where 37,000 prisoners were kept between 1941 and 1945 when it was liberated by the Red Cross and the Canadian soldiers.
This unique look at young people who took their survival into their own hands focuses on a farmer’s son, Frans, who heads to Amersfoort every day to collect scraps of food to feed the animals on his family’s farm. When a prisoner begs Frans to send a letter to his girlfriend, a smuggling operation is put into action right under the noses of the Nazi guards. Transporting hundreds of messages for prisoners helps Frans feel like he’s doing something to help and it gives the prisoners hope in their darkest moments. When Saskia, Frans’s girlfriend and a non-Jew, is captured and taken to Amersfoort, Frans knows what he must do.
My first Imogen Matthews book absolutely captivated me from the first to the last page! With so many wartime books on the market featuring life in concentration camps, a historical fiction author needs to find either a unique presentation or research to find material for a unique look at a life of survival behind barbed wire. Matthews has accomplished both. She has found a true account of ordinary people’s courage and self-sacrifice to help the prisoners and masterfully transported her readers to the scene of the action, enabling them to watch from the sidelines. Her vivid depictions of survival life in Dutch villages during wartime are heartbreaking. I was genuinely invested in her layered characters and cared about their survival. Her villains were equally well-developed and repugnant. You will read about friendships strained because of living on different sides of the wire, young people who fought to keep love alive, and others who were willing to risk everything to help their fellow man. The tension and fear radiate from each page, not only for those in the camp but for those on the outside.
This five-star read needs to top your list - especially if you are a lover of historical fiction!
Publishes September 15, 2021.
I was gifted this advance copy by Imogen Matthews, Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
Merged review:
This is NOT just another novel about a concentration camp.
The Girl Across the Wire Fence is a five-star historical fiction novel based on a true story of those who risked their lives to smuggle prisoners’ letters in and out of one of the largest, yet little known, concentration camps in Holland during World War Two. Kamp Amersfoort was a German concentration camp in Holland where 37,000 prisoners were kept between 1941 and 1945 when it was liberated by the Red Cross and the Canadian soldiers.
This unique look at young people who took their survival into their own hands focuses on a farmer’s son, Frans, who heads to Amersfoort every day to collect scraps of food to feed the animals on his family’s farm. When a prisoner begs Frans to send a letter to his girlfriend, a smuggling operation is put into action right under the noses of the Nazi guards. Transporting hundreds of messages for prisoners helps Frans feel like he’s doing something to help and it gives the prisoners hope in their darkest moments. When Saskia, Frans’s girlfriend and a non-Jew, is captured and taken to Amersfoort, Frans knows what he must do.
My first Imogen Matthews book absolutely captivated me from the first to the last page! With so many wartime books on the market featuring life in concentration camps, a historical fiction author needs to find either a unique presentation or research to find material for a unique look at a life of survival behind barbed wire. Matthews has accomplished both. She has found a true account of ordinary people’s courage and self-sacrifice to help the prisoners and masterfully transported her readers to the scene of the action, enabling them to watch from the sidelines. Her vivid depictions of survival life in Dutch villages during wartime are heartbreaking. I was genuinely invested in her layered characters and cared about their survival. Her villains were equally well-developed and repugnant. You will read about friendships strained because of living on different sides of the wire, young people who fought to keep love alive, and others who were willing to risk everything to help their fellow man. The tension and fear radiate from each page, not only for those in the camp but for those on the outside.
This five-star read needs to top your list - especially if you are a lover of historical fiction!
Publishes September 15, 2021.
I was gifted this advance copy by Imogen Matthews, Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
The Girl Across the Wire Fence is a five-star historical fiction novel based on a true story of those who risked their lives to smuggle prisoners’ letters in and out of one of the largest, yet little known, concentration camps in Holland during World War Two. Kamp Amersfoort was a German concentration camp in Holland where 37,000 prisoners were kept between 1941 and 1945 when it was liberated by the Red Cross and the Canadian soldiers.
This unique look at young people who took their survival into their own hands focuses on a farmer’s son, Frans, who heads to Amersfoort every day to collect scraps of food to feed the animals on his family’s farm. When a prisoner begs Frans to send a letter to his girlfriend, a smuggling operation is put into action right under the noses of the Nazi guards. Transporting hundreds of messages for prisoners helps Frans feel like he’s doing something to help and it gives the prisoners hope in their darkest moments. When Saskia, Frans’s girlfriend and a non-Jew, is captured and taken to Amersfoort, Frans knows what he must do.
My first Imogen Matthews book absolutely captivated me from the first to the last page! With so many wartime books on the market featuring life in concentration camps, a historical fiction author needs to find either a unique presentation or research to find material for a unique look at a life of survival behind barbed wire. Matthews has accomplished both. She has found a true account of ordinary people’s courage and self-sacrifice to help the prisoners and masterfully transported her readers to the scene of the action, enabling them to watch from the sidelines. Her vivid depictions of survival life in Dutch villages during wartime are heartbreaking. I was genuinely invested in her layered characters and cared about their survival. Her villains were equally well-developed and repugnant. You will read about friendships strained because of living on different sides of the wire, young people who fought to keep love alive, and others who were willing to risk everything to help their fellow man. The tension and fear radiate from each page, not only for those in the camp but for those on the outside.
This five-star read needs to top your list - especially if you are a lover of historical fiction!
Publishes September 15, 2021.
I was gifted this advance copy by Imogen Matthews, Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
Merged review:
This is NOT just another novel about a concentration camp.
The Girl Across the Wire Fence is a five-star historical fiction novel based on a true story of those who risked their lives to smuggle prisoners’ letters in and out of one of the largest, yet little known, concentration camps in Holland during World War Two. Kamp Amersfoort was a German concentration camp in Holland where 37,000 prisoners were kept between 1941 and 1945 when it was liberated by the Red Cross and the Canadian soldiers.
This unique look at young people who took their survival into their own hands focuses on a farmer’s son, Frans, who heads to Amersfoort every day to collect scraps of food to feed the animals on his family’s farm. When a prisoner begs Frans to send a letter to his girlfriend, a smuggling operation is put into action right under the noses of the Nazi guards. Transporting hundreds of messages for prisoners helps Frans feel like he’s doing something to help and it gives the prisoners hope in their darkest moments. When Saskia, Frans’s girlfriend and a non-Jew, is captured and taken to Amersfoort, Frans knows what he must do.
My first Imogen Matthews book absolutely captivated me from the first to the last page! With so many wartime books on the market featuring life in concentration camps, a historical fiction author needs to find either a unique presentation or research to find material for a unique look at a life of survival behind barbed wire. Matthews has accomplished both. She has found a true account of ordinary people’s courage and self-sacrifice to help the prisoners and masterfully transported her readers to the scene of the action, enabling them to watch from the sidelines. Her vivid depictions of survival life in Dutch villages during wartime are heartbreaking. I was genuinely invested in her layered characters and cared about their survival. Her villains were equally well-developed and repugnant. You will read about friendships strained because of living on different sides of the wire, young people who fought to keep love alive, and others who were willing to risk everything to help their fellow man. The tension and fear radiate from each page, not only for those in the camp but for those on the outside.
This five-star read needs to top your list - especially if you are a lover of historical fiction!
Publishes September 15, 2021.
I was gifted this advance copy by Imogen Matthews, Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.