Many people have no idea of the part that the Canadians played in liberating Holland from German Occupation in WW2. I only know about it because it was one of my Dutch mother’s strongest and most emotional memories at after months of near starvation during the long Hunger Winter.

I was reminded of how the Canadians did so much…

I find the hardest part of writing a novel, ironically, is coming up with the perfect title. It has to jump out at the reader, stand out on the shelves of the book shop and have great “searchability” on Amazon.

This week, I had a long-awaited catch up with my publisher, Liesbeth Heenk, founder owner of Amsterdam Publishers to discuss my next book which I’ve been writing during Lockdown. We were due to have this interview at London Book Fair in March, which was cancelled as the Covid-19 virus was reaching pandemic proportions.

Zoom came to the rescue!

I’ve had a number of speaker events for Hidden in the Shadows cancelled due to the coronavirus, so am delighted to be taking part in the next best thing - a virtual blog tour, starting on Monday 4th May.

The timing couldn’t be more relevant as it’s the week running up to VE Day when 75 years ago Europe celebrated their liberation at the end of World War 2.

During these unsettling times, sitting back and have someone read you a book can be a source of great comfort. It’s easy to get absorbed and lost in the story, especially if it’s narrated well.

75 years ago, Holland was in the grip of the coldest winter in living memory and 3.5 million people were close to starvation. It was just weeks from the end of the war, though nobody knew it.

Today, Monday 27th January, marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and is so poignant because so few survivors are alive to tell their first-hand accounts of what actually happened inside the world’s most notorious concentration camp.

“The concept of ‘Never Forget’ is more important today than ever”…

Two years ago, I gave my very first book talk for The Hidden Village at Headington Library (Oxford) situated in the historic Bury Knowle house overlooking the beautiful park. It’s my local library and I’ve spent many hours in the reading room with my laptop working on the sequel. So when the Library approached me about giving another talk, I realised it would be the perfect venue for the launch of my new book.

It’s been a long time coming, two and a half years in fact, but finally I can announce the launch of my new novel, Hidden in the Shadows, the sequel to The Hidden Village!

Like The Tattooist of Auschwitz, I used real events and accounts from people who had lived through WW2 to shape my story. It’s not so much separating fact from fiction as looking for half-told or untold stories and bringing them to life.

Whilst writing The Hidden Village, I never had any thoughts about writing a second book. That came months after publication, when I started receiving reviews from readers saying they’d wanted to find out what happened after The Hidden Village ended.

It’s a sad fact that new stories of courage and survival are coming to light all the time as Jewish Holocaust survivors come to the end of their life.

Each and every one had extraordinary stories to tell at the hands of the captors. 

One by one, each flame is extinguished …

As a published Oxford author, it’s inspiring to know that there are more published authors in my city than anywhere else in the world!