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Gracie Chavez

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Girl in the Blue Coat

by Monica Hesse (Goodreads Author)

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Gracie Chavez said: " Girl in the Blue Coat takes place in Amsterdam during World War II. Hanneke, the main character, is a Dutch girl who delivers "black market" items while trying to cope with the death of her love, Bas, who passed away while fighting for the resistance Girl in the Blue Coat takes place in Amsterdam during World War II. Hanneke, the main character, is a Dutch girl who delivers "black market" items while trying to cope with the death of her love, Bas, who passed away while fighting for the resistance side against the Nazi occupation. One day, as she was delivering items to her customers, a woman asked her to help locate a missing girl, who was Jewish. When she lost Bas, she was no longer her bubbly nor optimistic self, and feels at fault for Bas's death. She decided to help because she knew that Bas would help her. She started to try to find information about a woman, Mirjam. As she was searching, she met Judith who was a Jewish secretary. As she continues her search to find more about Mirjam, she met knew people, like Mina and Ollie, (two other people we learn about), who she has become impressed by their undeniable bravery. She learns more about Mirjam's life as she is searching for her, but as she was doing this, Mirjam gets picked up by the Nazi police for holding the Jewish girl. When they go in to try to rescue the girl, who Hanneke believed to be Mirjam, she (the girl in the blue coat) runs and gets shot. Hanneke then remembers that "the missing girl" had a scar on her legs from a previous accident, which is something the girl who was shot did not have. By talking to a few people, she finds the true story; Amalia, the girl who was shot, and Mirjam met in the street after the murder of Mirjam’s family, and Amalia insisted they exchange papers. She then went to Mrs. Janssen’s (the lady who said she was hiding a Jewish girl), where she spoke to Christoffel, nicknamed “Tof,” who snuck her out and let her stay with him. Mirjam forgives Amalia for what had happened between the two, and explains that to Hanneke, which finally allows her move on from her troubles with both Bas and her investigation with Mirjam.

Believe it or not, Hesse didn't use any apparent literary devices in her story. The plot itself allows so much effectiveness. It brought a new twist on the common WWII based stories. Not only did we see that Henneke had to struggle with coping the death of one, or trying to live her life while the Nazi occupation was terrorizing Amsterdam, but she also was on a quest to find and save a life because she promised someone she would. Though it isn't a literary device, the plot was ALMOST without error. The only reason why I said almost is because nothing is perfect. The way the whole story unfolded, it allowed for so much twists for the reader to read.

I really liked this book. The only thing that I "disliked" about the book was that it was somewhat slow to start off with. It took a little bit for the plot to really get started and for you to get into the book. However, it is very different than most books that took place in this era. Not only did we get to read about what occurred in Amsterdam and the problems they faced for being Jewish, but also a mystery. We got to see what Hanneke had to go through to save a girl whom she had known nothing about, while also getting on with life while coping with the death of her loved one and fighting off the Nazi's. It combined two genres that I love; mystery and history. I enjoyed this book very much and I recommend it to anyone who likes more insight of tribulations people during this time went through. ...more "

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(page 68 of 310)
"Still working as a receptionist for Mr. Kreuk, Hanneke sees Ollie for the first time since Bas's memorial. The two take a walk to get caught up, and Ollie has suspicions of Hanneke. He asks her if she is part of the Nazi party and if she was a member of the rebellion. In response, Hanneke says, "No, I am not insane."" — Apr 06, 2020 12:01AM

May 18, 2020 11:37PM · see review