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Having read God’s Smuggler and loved it so much, I felt inclined to continue down the Dutch Christian Missionary Autobiographical route, and was not disappointed!

Corrie is in her 50s for most of the book, and lives in a house in Haarlem in Holland with her sister and father, which has a watch repair shop at the front which they run. They are a Christian family, so technically aren’t at risk from the Nazis during World War Two, that is, until they start helping and hiding Jews who are at great risk indeed.

The book follows their story as they go from helping a little, to adjusting the structure of their home to include a hidden room to use during raids. Unfortunately they do get caught for some of their activity, and so the second half of the book follows Corrie as she is taken from prison to concentration camp with her sister – it’s pretty harrowing, but so important to realise what so many went through. Corrie and Betsie were incredibly faithful though – they managed to smuggle a bible in with them and led daily worship services with all the women they shared rooms with. Betsie’s faith is particularly inspiring and challenging. These are better women than I could even dream of being!