Girl in the Blue Coat

Hesse, Monica. Girl in the Blue Coat. 2016. 309p. 583 mins. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

In the Second World War, no act is too small to help resist the Germans. The year is 1943, and the Nazis have conquered most of Europe. Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands have been occupied since 1940. Like many teenagers, Hanneke’s life has been in turmoil, and she had to grow up fast. Her boyfriend was in the Dutch navy and he was among the many who died in the five days the Dutch resisted. Working with an undertaker, Hanneke’s real job is to run contraband operations and hook up rich folks with the products they simply cannot go without even under occupation. This illegal work could lead to her arrest, but as the prototypical Aryan, she may do a stint in jail. Hanneke refuses to get involved in the war, believing that her small act of undermining the rationing system is her way of fighting back against the invaders.

When she delivers goods to Mrs. Janssen, one of her elderly client who recently lost her husband after he was shot in killed hiding Jews in his factory, she discovers that another Jew was being hidden in their house, behind a false cupboard. Asked to find the missing girl with the blue coat, Hanneke at first refuses, but finds the mysterious disappearance strange, and agrees to investigate. Soon, what was a simple way to make money becomes an obsession. How did the girl escape the house without being noticed? Where has she gone? Hanneke is about to be dragged into the war despite her best efforts, and the web of lies and duplicity she discovers will change her life forever.

For another take on Dutch Jews taken to concentration camps during the Second World War, take a look at Monique Polak's What World is Left.