Snow on the Tulips by Liz Tolsma - my review

Snow on the Tulips is a richly woven story of love, trust, faith and courage set in the Netherlands during the last days of World War II.  Ms. Tolsma has created a masterful historical novel that pulls the reader in from the very first page. Her story was so well crafted that I could see the countryside, the war torn town, the German's banging on doors. She opened up this story and invited the reader in to experience the pain and suffering of her characters.

The heroine of the story, Cornelia de Vries was widowed when the German's took her husband away from her on their wedding night and killed him. At the time of the story, four years have passed but she still finds herself grieving over his death. She has been hiding her twenty year old brother, Johan, within her cottage so he won't be hauled off by the Germans. But Johan is bored staying indoors all the time.  He wants to do something to save his country. After hearing gun shots and knowing the Germans had probably executed some men Johan wants to get a closer look.  He sneaks out at night and soon finds himself face to face with a Dutch Resistance operative, Gerritt Laninga (although Gerritt doesn't give Johan his true name). Gerritt was one of the men the German's had executed but Gerritt survived.  Johan takes Gerritt back to Cornelia's so they can tend to his wounds. Cornelia isn't happy with her brother for sneaking out but she is really unhappy that he brought home one of the executed men. Afterall, when the German's came back to take the bodies away they would begin a search for the missing body.

This book held me captive. I found myself holding my breath each time Gerritt had to leave to help the cause. When the German's came and ransacked Cornelia's house I became angry. This book made me feel very strong emotions. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love with the characters and when the story came to an end I found myself celebrating along with Cornelia and Gerritt.

It was obvious that Ms. Tolsma researched her topic very well and I would highly recommend Snow on the Tulips especially if you like reading Christian Historical Fiction, set during World War II.

On a 5-Star Scale - 5 Stars!!!!!

I would like to thank Litfuse Publishing and Thomas Nelson Publishers for my review copy of Snow on the Tulips. I received my copy for free in order to read it and give my honest review, which I have done.

Smiles & Blessings,