First published 2020
Truus Wijsmuller stands on a Vienna railway platform in 1938, watching Jewish children board a train bound for safety in England. The Dutch resistance worker has negotiated with Nazi officials to transport these children away from the growing persecution. Each journey requires careful planning and enormous risk. Truus must navigate bureaucratic obstacles, forge documents, and convince desperate parents to send their children into an uncertain future. The trains carry hundreds of young refugees across hostile territory toward London and freedom. As the war intensifies, Truus faces increasing danger from the Gestapo while racing against time to save as many children as possible. Her mission tests her courage and challenges her faith in humanity's capacity for both cruelty and compassion.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, world-war-ii, jewish
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, race-against-time
Setting: Vienna, England, London
Period: 1938
Hardcover · Azbuka
Content warnings: violence