Friday, September 5, 2014

Thief Of Glory-Sigmund Brouwer

Thief Of Glory
Sigmund Brouwer
WaterBrook, Aug 19 2014, $14.99
ISBN 9780307446497

In 1942, the Japanese successfully invade the Dutch East Indies islands.  On Java, the soldiers deploy the affluent adult males as slaves toiling on the Burma rail; while placing the left behind women and preadolescent children in prison camps.  Overnight, the son of a well-to-do Dutch headmaster, tweener Jeremiah Prins is burdened with keeping his mom and young siblings safe when his dad and older brothers are taken away.  He does his best, but the horrid conditions of the camps limit his options.  Still he tries while many others succumb to the nightmare.

Decades later, Jeremiah still searches for peace from those troubled times.  His journals help as do his loved ones, but those were times that tested him and still haunt him as he looks back and wonders what he could have done differently.

Thief Of Glory is a powerful historical that intensely describes “crimes against humanity” atrocities during WWII.  Character driven by Jeremiah and other victims; this thought-provoking tale reflects on Thomas Paine’s insight into another war as "These are the times that try men's souls."

Harriet Klausner

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