People often ask me how I first became interested n the Second World War, the topic of my first book, Women Heroes of World War II. I can answer that with two names: Garret Teune and Corrie ten Boom. Garret, my father, was a highschooler when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and as soon as he was able, he followed his older brothers into the U.S. Army Air Forces so he could, like them, train to battle the Luftwaffe in the skies above occupied Europe. My dad was nineteen when the war ended and I believe he spent the rest of his life pondering the small part he had played in the greatest good vs. evil conflict of the 20th century. One way he did this was by telling us his stories. Another was regularly viewing war films and TV shows, including a series called World at War, narrated by Sir Lawrence Olivier. Watching that stunning documentary footage with my dad gave me a fascination for the Second World War from which I've never recovered. 

I first heard the name Corrie ten Boom when her biopic came to theaters. Because I was born into a world populated by first- and second-generation Dutch Americans it was only natural that we went en masse to see the "The Hiding Place." But this story of a Dutch family who hid Jews and paid the price did more than inspire me with a sense of ethnic pride; it made me wonder what type of person one would have to be, what type of character one would have to possess to defy a totalitarian government that would cheerfully kill you for disobeying one of its smallest edicts. Women Heroes of World War II, begun three decades later, was my way of finally answering that question. 

A number of factors broiught my nonfiction series on women and war to a close. What to do next? While writing my book on the First World War, I absolutley fell in love with the Gabrielle Petit story. After reading The Alice Network, I wondered if I might do for Gabrielle what Kate Quinn did for another First World War spy: Lousie de Bettignies. I've noticed that while well-written nonfiction can press a reader's face up to the window of a certain place in time, historical fiction has the potential of bringing that reader directly into the room, to so speak. I hope that my novel, The Belgian Girls--which I consider the capstone project of my previous writing, grounded as it is in the research I did for Women Heroes of World War I and Women Heroes of World War II--will do that for its readers. And I hope you come to love and admire Belgian spy Gabrielle Petit as much as I did while writing about her in both nonfiction and ficiton. 

Though my books have garnered me surprising invitations to speak at historical museums, requests for documentary interviews, and even a few Hollywood contracts (nothing has come of the latter yet!), my goal has always been to do for my readers what my father and Corrie ten Boom did for me: ignite a lifelong fascination with a time period because of an interest in the people who lived through that time period. I hope that whoever reads my books will come to realize that history is not dry and boring, but that the past was once someone's living breathing present, filled with hopes and fears, convicitons and choices. 

Upcoming Appearances/Events