The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom with Elizabeth & John Sherrill

[Note: This book was provided free of charge by Chosen Books in exchange for an honest review.]

I must admit that until somewhat recently I was not familiar with who Corrie Ten Boom was. She does have a movie about her, though, from the 1970’s, and it comes from this book. The particular version of this book that I read marketed itself as a Young Reader’s Edition, and not knowing the original version, it is hard for me to say how this version is abridged, except to note that it contains quite a few pictures and overall has the look and feel of other historical books from the same general time period, like the Diary of Anne Frank and I Was A Slave In Russia [1]. The text is straightforward but not without its subtleties, and it reminds me of the sort of books I read voraciously as a late elementary school and middle school student when memoirs and biographical histories were particularly interesting to me. This book would have appealed to me at that age had I known it, and it is still a very good book today.

The narrative structure of this book is very well constructed, which appears to be due to two main facts. For one, Ten Boom’s story is compelling for those with an interest in the Dutch resistance to Nazis in WWII, and Holocaust history in general (several members of the Ten Boom family are among the Righteous of the Nations, including Corrie). For another, she was fortunate enough to have good co-writers to shape her narrative into a compelling text that is full of suspense, irony, and wit, as well as humanity. Corrie Ten Boom was a heroic Dutch spinster whose one romance in life went particularly badly and who almost by chance became a core figure in the Dutch resistance, a bit naive to be sure, but certainly not completely foolish, and possessed of enough resourcefulness to help many people escape the clutches of the Gestapo before she was imprisoned after a quick raid. The rest of the book then details her experiences in prison and afterward, where she helped Dutch collaborators overcome their stigma and be able to serve useful roles in society and find housing and work, an act of generosity considering her own rough treatment.

This book has a lot going for it, and it seems to be appealing to a young audience. I hope its appeal is wide, because Corrie Ten Boom was a legitimate hero in WWII, and a model of dignified and nonviolent resistance to corrupt government. She appears to have learned the lesson from her father, and among the many pleasures of this book is seeing Ten Boom write so movingly about her love for her family. The book as a whole deals with grace and mercy and divine providence in ways that are deeply profound. It is little wonder that the Sherrills found her story to be so interesting that they ended up writing a book with her after finishing the book they were working on when they heard about her. The world as a whole is a richer place when we can read true stories about the bravery of ordinary people, in case the time comes when we too need to be brave and stand against evil, even at the risk of our lives, should it come to that. Let us hope our societies do not require such judgment.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/book-review-i-was-a-slave-in-russia/