Hanneke Bakks is still grieving over her lost lover, Bas, when she decides to turn to stealing goods from the black market and selling them in order to gain money for herself and her family. It’s a nasty business that she ensures her parents and friends don’t find out about. She decides to keep her methods secret to make sure that her job is done skillfully and without prying eyes, especially in Amsterdam in 1943, which is filled with German occupation. But, as Hanneke is delivering goods to one of her neighbors, she is told of a dangerous secret: that her neighbor had been hiding a Jewish girl who later disappeared without a trace. Her neighbor desperately seeks Hanneke’s help to find the Jewish girl before German soldiers do. Previously, Hanneke had refused, but as she allies with her dead boyfriend’s older brother and his group of friends, she finds that the Jewish girl begins to linger on her mind more and more. Hanneke knows it's dangerous, but she begins to search for the mystery girl, who went by the name of Mirjam, and risks her own safety to find her before others with terrible intentions do so first.
This book was great. Not only was it suspenseful and fast paced, but I also loved the different personalities of the characters and how alive they all seemed. I loved the perspective of Hanneke, who was described to be the perfect “Aryan girl” during the German occupation, so it was nice to see a perspective of someone who wasn’t constantly fearing for her life every time she walked down the street. As Hanneke bands with her older friends and buyers, I loved the small community that formed as she searched for the missing Jewish girl. The setting of a small town that was lurking with danger and the livelihood of her neighborhood kept me interested. There were many twists and turns in this novel and each one surprised me. All things were resolved in the end. I admire how the author wrote about a grieving young girl and didn’t make her find another love interest. There was hardly any romance in this story and I think that’s what allowed it to be interesting as the sole focus was on the horrors of war and not just romantic love. Instead, the love featured was between friends and family. This book was great, and I am looking for more books written by the author soon!