The town is as much a character as any of the people and Tudor does an excellent job of portraying that small town, claustrophobic, cloying nature. The title refers to both the physical hiding place, where the ten Boom family hid Jews from the Nazis, and also to the Scriptural message found in Psalm 119:114: "Thou art my hiding place and my shield...." [1] Plot [ edit ] This book was a slower start, I think I was into 50% before the book took off for me. But I know this author and was willing to wait. I’m glad that I did. C.J. Tudor excels at character development. I feel as though I really know Joe and some of his old high school friends, Chris, Stephen, Marie. There are some great twists in this book but they come more from the characters than the plot, but that’s a good thing. It seems easier to turn a plot one way or another than to help us understand how people can hide their inner selves. While writing the Chalk Man she ran a dog-walking business, walking over twenty dogs a week as well as looking after her little girl. She firmly believes that there are no finer meals than takeaway pizza and champagne, or chips with curry sauce after a night out.

Every time I read Corrie's story, I discover something new. This most recent time it was that God convicts people differently about different things (Nollie and Corrie's disagreement reminded me of 1 Cor 8). I wonder how many times I’ve read this book? How many times have I wished for Beth’s faith and compassion, Opa’s wisdom, or Corrie’s courage and compassion? How many times have I marveled at their peace in the face of incredible terror? I can’t remember, but if I had to guess, I’d put it as half a dozen easily. The book is as much a horror story as a mystery. There are some particularly gruesome scenes. There are ghosts. There are creepy, crawly things that sent shivers up my spine. The story kept me engaged and I kept wanting to read just one more chapter. The ending had a few nice twists, even if it was a tad contrived. Tudor grabbed me with the grotesque and dingy opening. Two dead bodies to make sense of in a tired cottage swarming with bluebottles, flies and the stench of decay. From there the author flashes forward a few months in time, with an introduction to Joe.Okay so the book starts off with the police discovering a corpse of a woman whose head is blown off and its chunks scattered all over the room (hey, I said spoiler free, didn't say it won't be gory) and her son dead/murdered in a really brutal way and the people think that the mama killed her son. Eventually, both Nollie and Willem marry. And after the deaths of Corrie's mother and aunts, Casper, Corrie and Betsie, settle down into a pleasant domestic life. Later, in 1940, the Nazis invade the Netherlands. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. I read this book in honor of my mother. "The Hiding Place" was one of her favorite books; I remember her telling stories about it and reading passages aloud when I was a kid. The Hiding Place is a story about how the depths of faith and spirituality can get a person through even the darkest nightmare. Corrie ten Boom and her family led the Dutch Underground during the Nazi occupation of Holland, aiding and hiding Jewish people in a secret room in their home above their watchmaker shop. Their efforts eventually cost them their freedom and in some cases, their lives. Corrie and members of her family are arrested and sent to a concentration camp. This is not exactly a new story; we have heard numerous inspirational stories of people who have suffered monstrosities beyond our imagination. What sets Corrie’s story apart from many, though most surely not all, is that her family had the capacity for allowing their faith to grow even more throughout these times of torment. They shared their love, their hidden Bible, and their love of God with all those who would listen. They looked at the smallest things as a gift. Most of all, they understood the true meaning of forgiveness and how it can set one’s soul free. Upon meeting one of her former S.S. jailers at a church service years after these events, Corrie struggled to eventually accept the hand held out to her by this man. “As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand, a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.”

What an incredible picture of true faith in the face of such hardness and suffering. Anyone going through trials will benefit from this book. Likewise those seeking to be content in all circumstances and to rejoice in the Lord always. The characters are spot on, the setting takes on a life of its own, and you will be fully immersed into the storyline, dying to find out how it will come together. The memoir then moves forward in time to 1942. The Dutch surrender to Germany in 1940 changes life dramatically. After Peter is arrested for playing the Dutch national anthem in church, the family begins hiding Jews and others who are in danger in their home, which is called the Beje. They build a secret room for added protection. The ten Boom family even finds an ally in a police officer named Rolf. Over time, the ten Boom family hides a Jewish cantor whom they rename Eusie, a mother and infant son, the elderly asthmatic named Mary, and many others. Some of these people move to locations outside the city, while others remain at the Beje as part of the ten Boom family.

In early 1944, one of Corrie’s operatives, a man named Jop, was captured by the Gestapo. Rolf warned Corrie that this likely signaled the beginning of the end for her rescue operation—the Germans would get information out of Jop one way or the other that was almost certain to result in the arrest and capture of everyone involved. Corrie had been concerned about the growth of her operation for some time and how difficult and complex it had become to maintain it. With a network of dozens of people delivering supplies and information, only one domino needed to fall for the whole operation to collapse. February 28, 1944 On Feb. 28, 1944, they were betrayed and Corrie and several relatives were arrested. The four Jews and two underground workers in the house at the time of the arrest were not located by the Nazis and were extricated by the underground 47 hours after they fled to the tiny hiding place (located in Corrie's room). Corrie and sister Betsie were taken to German work camp as sympathizers to the “Jew Problem”. There they were able to share their faith with other prisoners and to love their enemies with only the love of God can give. When Corrie was released, she continued the dream of her sister, to help bring the love of God to the hurting- to the wounded and the ones who wounded as all need the grace and love of God. I have often wondered if I would risk my family's life to protect another, but I have never questioned whether or not I would lie. I would have lied to the Nazis and had no moral regrets about it. Connie's sister-in-law was so dedicated to honesty she told her children they would be rewarded for their honesty. And sure enough, when they told Nazi enquirers dangerous information, they were always protected. That made me question my own commitment to honesty.