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 Liberation days in Holland © Library and Archives Canada |
about the book - excerpt - reviews and interviews
reviews and interviews Read the Dutch-language article 'De kinderen van de tuinder' succes in Canada en Nederland from Radio Netherlands Worldwide Read the Globe and Mail review Read the Gazette review Hear an excerpt of Craig Rintoul's Bookbits interview illustrated with old photos Read Kristen's article, Examining a Royal Difference, in The Ottawa Citizen
Praise for The Occupied Garden "Never in my life have I read a book twice. This is the most facinating
story about a Dutch family before, during and after the war, in general,
that I have ever read.... One is constantly reminded of one's own wartime
experiences. " "A full-bodied, moving story of a battered populace that refused to
be annihilated." "The daily detail of the fight for survival in the worst of times
makes stirring drama." "The Occupied Garden is a well-written historical narrative that combines
the personal experiences of the young den Hartog family with the larger
narrative of the war that surrounds them…. The most important insight
that they gain is not military or political in nature, but rather constructed
from personal memories of the past. With this book, the authors intend to
preserve a story that was left unspoken for many years and in jeopardy of
being lost forever to time and memory." "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, sometimes breathlessly, forward.... As in a painting
by Seurat, the masses ("dots") of information meticulously build
up, slowly, vividly, revealing the many personalities and the devastating
time.... These reconstructed lives just hum with authenticity." "This is a fascinating, informative, beautifully written book....
The authors have done a great deal of research and have cobbled it together
with an eye for truth, irony and balance." "The Occupied Garden is, on one level, an amazingly detailed
and moving account of one family's life ... during the Second World War.
But it is much more. Indeed, it is the quintessential Canadian story."
"Moving and lyrical.... In The Occupied Garden, [the authors]
piece together their story, saving it from oblivion. 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 a people who lived
in it during a terrible time." "We come to know the den Hartogs so intimately we feel we are seated
at the dinner table, sharing their meagre meals." "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." "Den Hartog and Kasaboski have captured a time and a people, writing
with an honesty and compassion that draws the reader so completely into
Cor and Gerrit's neighbourhood that readers cannot help wondering what they
would have done if faced with the same terrible wartime situation." "The den Hartog family history is laced with suspense.... Their story
of war, dislocation and survival is well and evocatively told." "In this excellent book, the horrifying facts of World War II seem
to have even greater impact when placed as backdrop to the lives of individuals
struggling stoically to survive." "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." "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."
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