WWII is one of my favorite time periods to read about. I think it’s because there are so many amazingly brave stories of men and women who fought against the darkness. I find their stories to be inspiring, and remind me that even when it feels like the darkness is consuming my surroundings, there is still light. Hidden Yellow Stars is another beautifully written novel about such light. But it’s different then other books I’ve read that mostly focus on saving families. Connolly shares a story about saving children. Hiding them in plain sight in fact. For sure it had things that were difficult to read, what WWII book wouldn’t? But it was so well written that I couldn’t tear myself away.
** Affiliate links used **
About the Book
Hidden Yellow Stars Author Rebecca Connolly
Published by Shadow Mountain
on March 4, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Historical / 20th Century / World War II, Fiction / Historical / General, Fiction / Women
Pages: 304
Amazon | GoodreadsBased on the true story of two World War II heroines who risked everything to save Jewish children from the Gestapo by hiding them throughout Belgium.
Belgium, 1942
Young schoolteacher Andrée Geulen secretly defies the Nazis in Belgium, who are forcing Jews to wear a yellow Star of David. Andrée is not Jewish, but she feels a maternal connection to her students, who are living in constant fear, and decides to take action. No child should have to suffer under such persecution. But what can one woman do against an entire army?
Ida Sterno is a Jewish woman who works with the Committee for the Defense of Jews in Belgium, a clandestine resistance group tasked with hiding children from the Gestapo. She wants to recruit Andrée because her Aryan appearance can provide crucial security measures for their efforts. Andrée agrees to join and begins work immediately by adopting a code name: Claude Fournier.
Together, Andrée and Ida, and their undercover operatives, work around the clock to move Jewish children from their families and smuggle them to safety through the secret channels established by the resistance. As each child is hidden, Andrée commits to memory their true name and history. Someday, she vows, she will help reunite as many of these families as she can.
But with the Gestapo closing in and the traitorous Fat Jacques who has turned from ally to enemy and is threatening to identify and expose any Jew he meets, Andrée and Ida must work even harder against increasingly impossible odds to save as many children as possible and keep them safely hidden--even if it might cost them their own lives.
My Perspective
As a reader of many WWII books, I always enjoy finding one with a different viewpoint. Hidden Yellow Stars is just that. Typically finding stories that focus on saving families, Connolly found a beautiful story to tell about hiding children. That alone can probably tell you the amount of emotion this book had. What they did to children during that time was simply horrific. And yet Connolly shares a bright light in a dark place, by way of Andree and Ida. These two women were brave, an inspiration, and so much more.
I am in awe in the amount of history Connolly put in this story. You can tell how much research she did, even before reading the author notes at the end (which by the way I really enjoyed reading!). The speech, descriptions, everything, was true to the time period. There were things she included in the story (sorry no spoilers), had me wanting to dig for my history books (aka the internet) to find out even more. Even the difficult things to read, like the way the Gestapo treated people, were included and I appreciate that because it makes the story more real. Connolly didn’t sugar coat anything, though I will say everything written was handled with great care and grace.
Hidden Yellow Stars is a remarkable story of courage, bravery, and hope. Readers will be inspired by the selfless acts that Andree and Ida did throughout the story. I highly recommend Hidden Yellow Stars to readers who love historical fiction, WWII stories in particular.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
My Favorite Quote
The secret to life, with all its vast intellectual pursuits and wide opportunities of interests, was to help and serve one another.
About the Author
Rebecca Connolly is the author of more than two dozen novels. She calls herself a Midwest girl, having lived in Ohio and Indiana. She’s always been a bookworm, and her grandma would send her books almost every month so she would never run out. Book Fairs were her carnival, and libraries are her happy place. She received a master’s degree from West Virginia University.
While doing research for this book, she discovered information about her own family history, including the fates of several unknown family members who perished in the concentration camps of World War II.
What interests you about this story?
Looks fantastic!