An Address in Amsterdam: A Novel

by Mary Dingee Fillmore

Rachel Klein hopes she can ignore the Nazis when they roll into Amsterdam in May 1940. She’s falling in love, and her city has been the safest place in the world for Jewish people since the Spanish Inquisition. But when Rachel’s Gentile boyfriend is forced to disappear rather than face arrest, she realizes that everything is changing, and so must she—so, although she is often tired and scared, she delivers papers for the underground under the Nazis’ noses. But after eighteen months of ever increasing danger, she pushes her parents to go into hiding with her. The dank basement where they take refuge seems like the last place where Rachel would meet a new man—but she does.

An Address in Amsterdam shows that, even in the most hopeless situation, an ordinary young woman can make the choice to act with courage—and even love.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Holocaust, World War II, War, Historical, Adult Fiction

338 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2016

About the author

After a lifetime of private creative writing, Mary Dingee Fillmore was seized by a subject too important to hide in her journal or a letter to friends. Living in a house where Jewish people were hidden inspired her novel, An Address in Amsterdam, to be published by She Writes Press in October 2016. Since Mary's first lengthy stay in Amsterdam in 2001, she has been visiting, researching, writing, and speaking about the Holocaust and resistance in the Netherlands.

See Mary's author website at http://www.maryfillmore.com, and visit her on Facebook or at http://www.seehiddenamsterdam.com.

To develop her craft as a writer to be worthy of her topic, Mary earned her MFA at Vermont College in 2005. Since then, she has published poetry in literary journals as well as gaining recognition for her essay, “Freeing the Hidden Camp.” The Vermont Humanities Council Speakers’ Bureau sponsors Mary’s presentation of “Anne Frank’s Neighbors: What Did They Do?,” which explores the many shades of grey in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, and the wrenching choices which confronted good people. Mary also wrote a nonfiction book in 1987 (Women MBAs: A Foot in the Door, G.K. Hall), and contributed a chapter to Ourselves Growing Older (Simon and Schuster).

Mary has been a resident at the Vermont Studio Center and a graduate assistant at Vermont College's MFA program. To keep on learning, she attends writing conferences such as The Muse and the Marketplace, the Associated Writing Programs, Write Angles, and the International Women's Writing Guild. For more than thirty years, Mary has studied with Deena Metzger, the author of the invaluable Writing for Your Life.

Since 1982, Mary's other work has been as a facilitator bringing people together for a purpose, which she still enjoys after more than thirty years working throughout the US and elsewhere. She lives with her longtime partner, astronomer Joanna Rankin, in Burlington, Vermont.

Reviews

[Susan Ritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a perfect book to read following the election of Donald Trump! Fillmore shows us the transformation of a typical teenage girl into a courageous resistance worker in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation. Rachel and her family believe things won't be all that bad when the Nazis first arrive on their streets, after all they live in Holland, a peaceful, progressive city. The Dutch will certainly stand up for their Jewish citizens against any attempts by the Nazis to discriminate against them. The terror around them grows incrementally, one small law and exclusion at a time, until jewish families are being rounded up and taken from their homes, beaten in the streets, and sent to the who knows where in the East.
Rachel. our heroine, and her family change as the Amsterdam changes. Rachel starts as a young girl in love and finds herself drawn into the underground, helping to hide Jews from the Nazis at the same time trying to convince her German Jewish father that their own family is in danger.
Fillmore spent many years researching this book and it shows. Her descriptions of Amsterdam are beautiful. Her understanding of Amsterdam in the 40s is deep. Teaches us never to think "it can't happen here."

[Linda Kass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Dingee Fillmore’s novel, An Address in Amsterdam, is a compelling, beautifully imagined, and well-researched story about the Jewish experience during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Rachel Klein is the novel’s courageous and defiant protagonist, a teenager at the time the Nazis enter Amsterdam in May of 1940. The denial of her father, a doctor, to heed the warnings of his brother in Germany is understandable. After all, the city was one of the safest in the world for Jewish people since the Spanish Inquisition. As the tensions and restrictions increase for the Jews, and Rachel’s Gentile boyfriend is forced to disappear rather than face arrest, Rachel decides to deliver papers for the underground at great risk. The setting itself is another powerful character in this story, as we navigate Amsterdam’s canals and streets with Rachel, see the terror that she observes, and encounter the richly detailed sights and sounds of the inner city. After eighteen months of increasing danger, Rachel and her family go into hiding, first in a darkened attic and then a dank basement, where fear and deprivation co-exist, and yet where hope remains. I found this historical novel to be an engrossing read!

[Cindy Roesel · Rating 4 out of 5]

She Writes Press’ continues their Fall Reading Challenge 2016 with Mary Dingee Fillmore’s, AN ADDRESS in AMSTERDAM.

“An Address in Amsterdam was born in 2002 in our second apartment, when our landlord revealed that Jewish people had been hidden in an attic just above us. They were last seen trying to escape over the rooftops as the police shot at them. I felt their presence, and imagined who they might have been and what had brought them there. My heroine, Rachel Klein, and her parents began to come to life, first in faint pencil sketch lines and slowly filling in. I hungered to learn more about their world. Somehow, I had been placed in the midst of it, and it was my obsession and duty to find out what their lives had been like, and what had configured their choices.”

Mary Dingee Fillmore, Author, AN ADDRESS IN AMSTERDAM (She Writes Press)

Mary Dingee Fillmore, spent thirteen years researching, writing and rewriting AN ADDRESS IN AMSTERDAM, the fictional story of a young Jewish woman, Rachel who joins the underground to fight against the Nazis. The book is also an expression of her love for the city – its canals, centuries-old houses reflected in the water and so much more. But, as any lover learns, beauties also hold other truths. Eighty percent of its Jewish population was deported and murdered by the Nazis during WWII.

After writing AN ADDRESS IN AMSTERDAM, Mary has definitive thoughts about why it was important for her to write this story. “I could well have been a colluder or collaborator, watching my neighbors being rounded up – or a resister. But it’s also my story because it’s that of everybody who has ever been hated. Each of us has hated, and been hated. The book is about where that hatred can lead, and how one young Jewish woman found the courage to resist. So can we.”

Very well shared, especially in these very unsettling times.

maryMARY DINGEE FILLMORE’S BACKGROUND: After a lifetime of private creative writing, I was seized by a subject too important to hide in my journal or a letter to friends. Living in a house where Jewish people were hidden inspired my novel, AN ADDRESS IN AMSTERDAM. Since my first lengthy stay in Amsterdam in 2001, I have been visiting, researching, writing, and talking about the Holocaust and resistance in the Netherlands. No, I’m neither Dutch nor Jewish, just a lover of the city of Amsterdam and its people, living and dead. I would have been a neighbor of the deported citizens had I been alive at that time, and I will always wonder whether I would have colluded passively, collaborated, or resisted as I would hope.

For more information about Mary Dingee Fillmore, check out her websites at http://www.maryfillmore.com and http://www.seehiddenamsterdam.com

[Barbara Stark-Nemon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Address in Amsterdam, by Mary Dingee Fillmore, is a culmination of the author’s decades long love affair with the city itself and her thorough research into its dark days during WWII. Fillmore expansively captures the exquisite light, the beauty of the canals, the architectural details, and fauna of the city. In contrast, the lives of the Jewish family at the center of this story become darker, and more constricted. Courage and cowardice, trust and treachery, love and loyalty drive 18 year old Rachel Klein from a world of sheltered privilege to one of danger and passion. The hiders and the hidden are written in this engrossing book with the complexity of real people confronting the madness of the Nazi occupation.

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 .5 stars, rounded up to 3

[Debi Stout · Rating 4 out of 5]

As part of the 2016 BookSparks Fall Reading Challenge (#FRC2016), I received this book, An Address in Amsterdam by Mary Dingee Fillmore. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about reading it; I've never been a fan of historic pieces. This book fell under the course title of Jewish Studies, and the department was - gasp - Historical Fiction..... and so it began.....

I actually enjoyed most of this story and the first thing that hit me is that the author really did her homework in providing readers with historical accuracy before writing this book. I felt that the book actually started out a little slow but then moved up and kind of leveled out once I was hooked into Rachel Klein's life. Ms. Fillmore did a great job with the details too, the scenes on the pages were very vivid. An Address in Amsterdam explores the dilemmas of living in Holland during the Nazi Occupation.

An Address in Amsterdam shares the story of Jews in Amsterdam from the beginning of the Nazi occupation through the year 1943, at the the height of the deportations and collaboration. Rachel Klein is an 18-year old woman who is very worried about what might happen to her own family in Amsterdam. While Rachel's mother, Rose wanted her family to leave and go to London to stay with an elderly aunt, Rachel's father, Jacob is a dedicated physician and feels that the Dutch will never allow the Nazis to be anything more than just a physical presence in Amsterdam.

Rachel is thrown into a horrible atmosphere of suspicion and hate. She sees even more and more hatred and when her lover is forced to leave or face arrest (or worse), Rachel joins the underground movement as a courier. Almost every day for 18 months, Rachel searches for addresses and confronts her fears. An Address in Amsterdam provides a very dramatic story of heroism, courage, and love in the face of adversity.

I received a complimentary hardbound copy of this book from the publishers and BookSparks as part of the Fall Reading Challenge 2016 (#FRC2016) in exchange for this post, which is my honest review and unbiased opinion.

[Elysium · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rachel is 18 when the Nazis invade Holland. Soon after she joins the Dutch resistance by delivering letters and false documents. She tries to change her father’s mind about going into hiding but he doesn’t believe Nazi’s would actually harm people, especially German born like himself.
When the war breaks out, Rachel falls in love with Michel who turns out to be a resistance member. She wants to marry him but doesn’t believe that her parents would approve her relationship with a Gentile.

I liked to see how Rachel changed from a rather naïve schoolgirl into a resistance member living a dangerous life. At the start we see the Nazis behaving quite well but the situation started to worsen suddenly. I haven’t read books where it’s been told that things were moderately ok at first. Then there was this huge change in the attitude of all people.

I didn’t get Rachel’s father who just refused to see what was going on. I mean the situation had been horrible for some time before he even started to think about going into hiding.

The first half of the book is told from Rachel’s point of view but then it changed in the second half. In there we have Rachel’s, her parents and, if I remember correctly, Rolf’s. Rolf was Michel’s friend who also worked in the resistance and came into hiding with them. I didn’t see the point of that but oh well.

I would have liked to know what happened to them. I didn’t see the point of getting invested in these people and then not to know if they made it through the war.

Overall I enjoyed the book and I liked to read about the resistance work.

[Sarah Lombardi-Tobin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've recommended An Address in Amsterdam to many friends because of its timely themes, and its message of hope and action in the face of fear - and I'm eager to read it again myself to digest even more of this wonderful story's details! Frankly, I expected the book to be difficult to read because of the heavy subject matter (WWII), but the characters are so compelling, and the story so rich with beauty - and suspenseful twists! - that I flew through it.

I loved reading about Rachel, and feeling like I was getting a glimpse into her life and the lives of so many in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation. I felt transported to that place and time while I read: the author does a wonderful job of highlighting the architecture, history, and natural beauty of Amsterdam, weaving those features into the harsh reality of the occupation. I found that those details served as little reminders of how quickly a city (and its people) can be transformed during times of adversity. Read this book: you won't be able to put it down.

[Diane Lefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read early drafts of this novel, being able to read the final published version was like rediscovering old long-lost friends. We all know about Nazi atrocities and part of what I appreciate and admire about this book is the way it looks so tenderly at the daily lives of people living under Occupation instead of plunging us into the horrors of the death camps. If that (concentration camps) is your main interest in the era, this book isn't for you, though it may well expand your view of what was going on in Europe. We (readers) know what's at stake in this novel even before the characters do and I think most of us - who don't live in the most extreme circumstances but still are called on in our own society to make moral and ethical choices - can relate to the decisions they have to make, the compromises, the risks.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this novel can be read as a coming-of-age love story, in my read it is inextricable from its historical setting and purpose. It conveys with clarity the way that individuals carried on with their lives, circumscribed by social norms, without confronting directly what was experienced by others until they became those others. The novel’s full intentionality becomes clear as it unfolds: I read it is an answer to the diaries of Anne Frank and Helene Berr, acknowledging a young woman’s physical being and romantic dreams, and the symbolic tragedy of having these cut short. The ending—I can’t imagine a better one—underscores the tragedy of having to choose between survival and what can only be called Life.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This extremely well researched novel offers insight into the experience of Jews in Amsterdam from the onset of the Nazi occupation through 1943, the height of the deportations and collaboration. Rachel is 18, a young woman on the cusp of adulthood, thrust into a changing atmosphere of suspicion and hate. Her bravery is impressive, as we watch her go from a carefree young woman, into the experience of daily deprivation through being hidden. Although slow in the beginning, I was impressed by the detailed description of the reality of being hidden, the constant fear, deprivation, yet continue used humanity.

[Virginia Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In An Address in Amsterdam, Mary Fillmore has brought to life the impact of the Nazi occupation on the Jews in the Netherlands. Her masterful use of descriptive details made her characters so real that I forgot I was reading fiction and began to genuinely care for them. We watch the transformation of the main character, Rachel, as she goes from an innocent teenage girl, to a member of the Dutch resistance, and finally, to a blossoming woman forced into hiding in a cellar with her mother and father. Thanks to Ms. Fillmore’s in-depth research and skillful storytelling, the reader experiences every triumph and horrifying challenge faced by each character. The most compelling and educational portion of the book for me is when the family is forced to hide in a cellar, and we are not just witnesses to the family’s courage, we see, smell, and fear everything with them. The book is about love and loss, the consequences of denying reality, the systematic ostracizing and killing of innocent Jews, the heroic actions of those who risked their lives to protect Jews, the emotional toll of being a hunted outcast in your own country, and the strength of the human will to live. I highly recommend you read An Address in Amsterdam.

[Stephen Kastner · Rating 5 out of 5]

It reads like a screenplay and I hope it gets made into a feature film…

The story of Rachel Klein, a teenaged Jewish girl in Amsterdam during the second World War is the culmination of 13 years of investigation and research by Vermont author Mary Fillmore. Her effort has brought forth a very heart-moving tale of intrigue and heartbreak. The conditions under which the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands took place were an ever-changing daily disintegration. Some foresaw the inevitable and fled the country. Others were swept up in mass arrests, murdered or disappeared into hiding. This book takes you there and places you directly in the midst of an insecure world fueled by irrational anti-Semitism.

The author, not a Jew herself, was moved to take action in 2002 after realizing that the home she was staying in while on a pleasure trip to Amsterdam was once inhabited by the family she went on to write about. Thirteen years later she completed her initial effort in the publication of a remarkable book. Now, she shares that commitment even further in presenting talks and programs on her experiences and her work. You can find out more at MaryFillmore.com.

[Meryl Ain · Rating 5 out of 5]

For all those who read The Diary of Anne Frank, Mary Dingee Fillmore enlightens and expands our knowledge of Amsterdam and its people during the Nazi occupation. Through meticulous research, personal knowledge of the city, and page-turning writing, the author gives us new insights into the incremental horror the Nazis wrought on the Jews of Amsterdam. An Address in Amsterdam also reminds us that one person can always make a difference. The novel is both timely and timeless.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book! It was hard to read but impossible to put down. Truly a work of art, with themes of birds and nature juxtaposed on the horrors of the Nazi occupation. In the midst of all this, the author evokes feelings of young love, including sexuality, with sensitivity and care. Don't miss this one!

[Debra Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that you just can’t put down. I was immediately swept up in Rachel’s life as the Nazis began snaking their way throughout Amsterdam to the denial and disbelief of many, including her own father. Rachel’s reaction and subsequent heroic actions are those that we all hope we would take if we were witness to such heinous times. Thoroughly researched, beautifully written, this novel will keep you up late at night and leave you deep in thought long after you finish the last stunning paragraph.

[Barbara Ridley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful read. The novel starts slowly, echoing the gradual way that life changed under Nazi occupation. Rachel is an ordinary teenager, worrying that her parents will find out she’s sleeping with her boyfriend, until she becomes more aware of the atrocities being committed around her, and is pulled into the resistance. The tension builds as she runs small errands, delivering packages and then underground newspapers, and then takes increasing risks as she becomes involved in providing false papers to Jews trying to flee. When her own family finally recognizes the danger they face, she goes into hiding with her parents. The descriptions of the cellar where they must hide in dark, cramped conditions, dependent on their host for scraps of food and the only human contact with the outside world, is so vivid and heart-wrenching.

We are so familiar with the Anne Frank story that it no longer shocks us. In this well-researched novel, Fillmore brings this era to life in a fresh way, raising profound questions about courage and loyalty under the most extreme conditions. These issues seem more relevant than ever in the current political situation.

[Iris Waichler · Rating 5 out of 5]

In her book, An Address in Amsterdam, author Mary Dingee Filmore, beautifully captures the life and fall of this city as the Nazi movement emerges. This beautifully written novel draws the reader into the characters capturing their reactions, fears, and survival at a time of fear, cruelty, and turmoil. Rachel, the central character, and her parents move from denial to survival mode as they realize they are trapped in a world of never before witnessed cruelty. The characters are richly developed and the story is gripping, powerful, and moving. I dreamt about this book after I had finished reading it proving how the characters did and will stay with me. I strongly recommend this as a book that will educate the reader on how and why the Nazi party was able to assume control. It also illustrates the courage and bravery of those that fought against them risking their lives on a daily basis.

[Michelle Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful novel by Mary Fillmore! I so enjoyed learning about the Dutch resistance during WWII through the eyes of Fillmore's main character, Rachel. Though heart-wrenching at times, I enjoyed going back to this world each night, eager to find out what would happen to Rachel and her family. A wonderful testament to so many who lost their lives, and an important novel for today. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to the book for various reason. Firstly, I love historical fictions and am especially drawn to WWII and all of the different perspectives from that war. Second, my Grandmother grew up in Holland, however in her case she lived in Rotterdam. My Grandmother, a Gentile, who has now sadly passed, used to write me letters about her time in Holland - she left shortly after the war when she married my Grandfather, a Canadian soldier, and moved to Canada - and in some of the letters spoke of how many of her Jewish friends and classmates disappeared. I also vaguely remember a story about how an unexploded bomb was discovered in her back yard. Sadly, my interest in WWII began after my Grandmother passed, so I am not able to ask her my many questions about her time in Holland during the war and her first-hand account of the terrible things happening around her. Lastly, I visited Amsterdam a few years ago and the most memorable part of the trip was exploring the Dutch Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum) - a very well done museum that I encourage everyone visiting Amsterdam to check out. During my recent trip to Holland, I also traveled to Rotterdam, where I saw the house my Grandmother grew up in, however, my timing was unfortunate and I was unable to visit the Museum Rotterdam '40 -'45 - which I was envisioning would have a more personal resonation.

I felt that this book was beautifully written as well as being a page turner. Mary Dingee Fillmore transported me to Amsterdam and into the minds of Rachel, Rose, and Jacob. I wish we were told definitely what happened to them, and am obviously hoping for the best, but based on the devastating statistics at the end, we can only imagine. I loved that she included a relevant timeline at the end and was able to add some education.

This book continuously made the think, what would I have done in that situation? While I would like to believe that I would have been like Connie, Els, Michiel, and others, I have never been in a situations where I've had to contemplate making the choice of my life vs. someone else's.

Overall, as someone who has read many WWII historical fiction books, I very much so recommend this one.

[patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Address in Amsterdam dragged at times. It is fiction based on fact. Rachel is the daughter of a doctor and a mother, Rose, whose family has long been in the Netherlands. Her father, Jacob. is German in his origins. Jacob was one of those who believed it would blow over and had resisted his wife's desire to leave Holland and go to her aunt's in England. Rachel is a young woman enjoying her life and plans for the future. May 1940 the nazis came to the Netherlands and slowly but surely made life hell for the Jewish population. Rachel is drawn into working with the underground and trying to get her parents to hide. Jacob still believes it will blow over and he can't leave his patients. Mary Dingee Fillmore writes about the life of the Dutch and the Dutch Jews in the horror of nazi occupation. What they endured and those who fought back. The book did pick up for me and after a break I came back to it and I am glad I read it. Although the author did not spell out what happened after a certain point if you know anything about the Holocaust you can guess what happened. She gives you facts and figures in the index. One is out of 140,000 Dutch Jews 100,00 died. It is a stoey that could have happened.

[Lis]

Mary Dingee Fillmore takes a risk in writing An Address in Amsterdam, the fictional account of a Jewish teenager in the Dutch Resistance who is navigating the horror of Nazi-occupied Netherlands. It’s a country where the author has no family ties, and yet the story she tells is poignant and believable even to me — a child of Dutch immigrants who spent their teens under the German Occupation. For many of us, our parents chose not to talk about their wartime experiences — or not much: they spoke of how fortunate they were to grow up on farms, of having just enough food (their parents hid some of what they were legally required to give German soldiers), of their Christmas gift (a single orange), of lice, of their only pair of shoes (too small), of their obstructed education. And more recently, of a brave Resistance fighter they knew who was shot in the street. Horrible as a memory like this is, we need to hear the truth. And this is the gift of Fillmore’s superbly researched story: that it rings deeply true and tells part of last generation’s story in a language which is accessible and modern.

[Betty Hafner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent novel adds a different perspective to what most of us have read about life in Europe under the burgeoning Nazi rule. We watch Rachel, a young Jewish woman who lives with her mother Rose and father Jacob, become aware of the Nazi influence in Amsterdam, a city that has welcomed and protected the Jewish population for centuries. When her lover leaves to be part of the resistance, she chooses to join the effort and deliver covert messages as part of the local resistance effort. The well-drawn family members show readers differing reactions to the threat--Rachel becomes aware of the danger for her family and begs them to leave their home. Jacob, a doctor, downplays the threat and insists on staying to care for his patients. Rose keeps the peace by following her husband's wishes. Readers will feel they are in competent hands with Fillmore's attention to detail, description and historical accuracy. A terrific read!

[Jill Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel Klein, was a young 20+ yr old. during the occupation of the Nazis in Amsterdam. She became involved with the Dutch underground to try and stop the Nazis from beating and kidnapping Jews. Her father was a prominent doctor and thought nothing could happen to his family despite all that was going on around them. Finally, Jacob saw the need to save his family and moved to an underground basement of a lovely woman, Els. She fed them and gave them what she could for nine months, but the basement was very depressing. When Els had to flee the Nazis when they were closing in, she found a much better place for the Kleins to move to in a grouchy man’s attic. The ending was very abrupt and the reader can only assume the Kleins were taken to Westerbork camp when they heard the boots stomping up the stairs. What we don’t know is if the man turned them in for money. Author did capture the horror of the time and what it was like to be live in hiding like the Jews had to.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Dingee Fillmore writes with clarity, intelligence and human kindness as she delves deeply into the personalities of three members of a cultured, middle-class Jewish family living in wartime, Nazi-infested Amsterdam. In this beautifully written and well-researched novel, we follow the lives of a father, mother and their teen-age daughter, as they slowly recognize the suffering and suffocation from the growing restrictions and betrayals. It is a coming to age tale about Rachael, the novel's, hero. Fillmore sets the stage in this well-researched novel, with vivid descriptions of Amsterdam, its canals, its unique architecture, so that the reader can almost inhale its smells and hear its sounds~the water lapping in the canals. Fillmore's portrayal of Rachael -- the character who sees clearly and refuses to go along without a fight -- reminds me of today's youth and their unwillingness to accept the age-old bigotries and bias of past generations. This is a book that speaks to us today.

[michael Freed-Thall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Fillmore's, well-researched book, An Address in Amsterdam, is a devasting story of the Holocaust in the Netherlands. Told through the eyes of Rachel Klein and her family, the author vividly shows the descent into horror for Dutch Jews and those who tried to help. The basement hiding scenes are so visceral—the dank smell, the bucket for human waste, the inability to stand straight without hitting one's head, the constant fear of discovery, the tedious hours of boredom. Yet within this bleak setting, the characters find resilience, from awful trauma, transcendence.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in this history, strong female characters, and hope amidst the horror. The best and worst of the human story unfolds in these pages, and it's a timely reminder of how precious and tenuous freedom can be.

[Donna Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

In keeping with the very best historical fiction, AN ADDRESS IN AMSTERDAM deftly tells a breathtaking and suspenseful story while also illuminating a specific historical period. Mary Dingee Fillmore’s story of a young Jewish woman working with the underground resistance in Amsterdam during WWII educated and enlightened me about that time and place, and it did so with skilled storytelling, fully-drawn characters, and beautiful, fresh prose. I am left with a story I will never forget and also renewed awareness of the dangers we face today if we allow prejudice and bigotry a foothold in our societies. It CAN happen again—if we let it. Reading this beautiful book and thinking about its many messages will help us assure that it never does.

[Willa Goodfellow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever flat out badgered your friends to read a book? My turn to pick for my book club doesn’t come up for another six months. So, I am twisting arms to get somebody else to pick An Address in Amsterdam.

Beginning with the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940 and continuing into the period of hiding in May 1943 this story of a Jewish girl who has to grow up fast, her father who persists in believing the best about the Germans, and her mother who sees it all and loves them both.

How does the author maintain so much suspense in this historical novel from the early 1940s in Amsterdam? I mean, we all read Anne Frank’s Diary, didn’t we? We already know what happened. Yet Mary Dingee Filmore’s book is the proverbial page turner. Read it!

[Phyllis A. Still · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about Amsterdam during WWII. Mary Dingee Fillmore brings the city and her characters to life. This book contains adult sexual content.

As Rachel Klein comes of age, her world falls apart. She is Jewish, but the man she loves is forbidden. Before she can confess the betrayal to her parents, the Nazis arrive. Rachel is horrified when neighbors she once respected turn on each other, and the man she loves has to flee. Rachel becomes a courier for the resistance while trying to convince her parents to go into hiding.

The beginning of this story is intriguing and emotional. The middle became stagnant at times, but I wanted to know how everything would resolve. Sadly, the lose ends are what garnered my three stars.

[Derron Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Holocaust book. This one is historical fiction, taking place in Holland / the Netherlands and centers around a Jewish family and especially their teenage daughter. This account removes all the fake glamour and heroism and leaves behind normal human beings with lots of emotions. There are testimonials from people who actually experienced the Nazi invasion that this book captures the mood and feel of the time and place. It is told from the point of view of a young woman growing up and despite the Nazi invasion she has normal passions and desires. There is some sexual content. I don't know how to talk about the ending without giving it away. I'll just say it is not a typical ending.