Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.
Tell us something about where you live.
Recently, I came to London from the Netherlands. With German bombs raining down on London, this isn’t a safe place, but it’s the only place for me.
Living in London during the Blitz sounds very dangerous indeed! What brought you there?
When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, my husband & I fled with our three-year-old son, Theo. On the road, my husband cruelly ripped my son from my arms when I was sleeping and thrust him into the car of an English couple bound for London. My husband refused to tell me their names or address, then he was killed by a German fighter plane.
Now I’m in London, searching for my son.
That’s horrible! What are doing to find him?
I keep a notebook listing every place I search. I’ve visited orphanages and refugee camps and hospitals. I’ve visited the Dutch Embassy and placed advertisements in the papers. When I was inquiring at the Ministry of Health, which coordinates the evacuation of children to the countryside, I ended up taking a job there. My original purpose was to search for Theo among the evacuees, but now I see the importance of our work—not only to encourage evacuation, but to support the children in the country, the foster families, and the billeting officers.
In my search for Theo, I hoped to make an appeal on the wireless after I met BBC correspondent Hugh Collingwood. He was unable to make the broadcast, but I’m still glad I met him.
How’s that? Do I see you blushing?
Please, no. Hugh is a good friend, but he’s charming. After being trapped with a man who used to charm to control people, I’m leery.
However, Hugh’s charm has attracted a circle of friends who have welcomed me. This group of reporters hails from England and America and France, and their conversations are lively and intelligent—if a bit heated when they disagree.
What are you most afraid of?
This is worse than the previous question. Hugh once told me to list my fears, to name the monsters so I could fight them. And the monsters howl inside my head, all day and all night, whether or not I list them.
I fear I’ll never find my son. That he’s dead or abandoned or wandering or living in an orphanage in Nazi-occupied Europe. That, even if he’s in an English home, he’s being neglected or abused or that he’s living in terror of bombs.
And I fear he’ll forget me. He’s only three years old, after all. Hugh said Theo will never forget my love. I cling to that hope and to the hope that one day I’ll find my little son.
Do you have a cherished possession?
Theo’s stuffed elephant, Oli. Oli is his best friend. We used to play a game where Theo would hide and Oli would search for him. I used to tell him that Oli would always find him because elephants never forget. I can still see Theo holding Oli to his cheek to comfort himself, and when I press my face to Oli I can still smell a hint of my little boy.
What have you learned about yourself in the course of your story?
For all my lists and routines and plans, I can’t control my life. My rituals have always given me a sense of comfort, but it’s a false comfort. Turning a knob twelve times doesn’t cause God to release the desires of my heart. The Lord isn’t an automaton to manipulate. I’m slowly learning to trust him.
Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!
As the German army invades the Netherlands in 1940, Aleida vander Zee Martens flees her homeland with her husband and her three-year-old son. But when her husband is killed and she is separatedfrom her son, she must escape to London alone to wait out the occupation. She finds work with an agency responsible for evacuating children to the countryside and is determined to use her connections to help her find her son. This includes enlisting the aid
of a handsome BBC correspondent. BBC radio correspondent Hugh Collingwood is caught in the middle
of the London Blitz. As German bombs set the city on fire, Hugh is determined to boost morale while walking the fine line between truth and censorship. But the Germans are not the only ones Londoners have to fear as a series of murders flame up amid the ashes. As Aleida and Hugh work together to find her missing son and also
uncover the culprit behind the murders, they continue to grow closer. But with bombs falling and continued killings, they may be running out of time
Sarah Sundin is the bestselling author of When Twilight Breaks,
Until Leaves Fall in Paris, The Sound of Light, and the popular WWII
series Sunrise at Normandy, among others. She is a Christy Award
winner and a Carol Award winner, and her novels have received
starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers
Weekly, and have appeared on Booklist’s “101 Best Romance Novels
of the Last 10 Years.” Sarah lives in California.
Sarah Sundin
www.SarahSundin.com
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