Author Description

From the Foreword by Bettine Siertsema: "The image of Etty Hillesum as long-suffering and resigned has always been a source of controversy. Many have wondered whether she should not have resisted the Nazis' murderous act in every way possible. Ies Spetter's brief comment overturns that image of resignation. Where others were concerned, young children, she did resist. The novel by Giuseppe Leo does not emphasize that element. Her spiritual development is central, but the way it is expressed is entirely in line with what we now know of Etty Hillesum's final choices. Although the diary excerpts in this novel are fictional, for those who know her real diary and letters, it is as if she is brought to speak again. It is a fine achievement that without any sentimentality or effect. Her voice still sounds utterly recognizable. It lends extra depth to the main plot-line, which is set in present-day Syria and Europe. Here too we find a young woman, Helena, who will not sit by idly when children's lives are at stake. Though not an intended victim as Etty Hillesum was, she seems just as powerless, but like her, overcomes her powerlessness and is able to make the decisive difference for at least these couple of children". SYNOPSIS: Two female protagonists, Etty and Helena, carry out a rescue plan seventy years apart, each one in a very different historical context but having one thing in common: both of them saved children, victims of genocide (in the case of Etty who saves two Jewish boys from Westerbork camp), or of civil war (in the case of Helena who smuggles a baby out of Syria). A mysterious researcher investigates the fil rouge existing between the two stories of salvation. Little by little he finds that the story of one of the boys rescued by Etty is interwoven with Helena's biography.