#206: BOOK REVIEW: The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

 

It was the morning of February 28, 1944, when her bedroom door flew open, and a man barged into her room.

"What's your name", he asked

"Get up, Get dressed" he commanded

Who was this man? Who was this woman? Where was he taking her to? What was going to happen now?

The hiding place is a true story dated during World War II and the Nazi invasion. It is a beautifully crafted story that, depicts the strength of a heart that has found true love in Jesus and steadily holds on to the hope that even the darkest of nights, the goriest of nightmares, and the hardest of circumstances, have no power to separate the called from the love of Jesus. It is a warm reminder that every experience on earth is woven by the master craftsman - God, and, a specially crafted tapestry, allowed so there is a full formation for the beautiful and amazing things every son is ordained to do on earth.

Wrapped in the mundane of everyday life - wristwatch repairing, housekeeping, leisurely visits to siblings, road walks with her father (Opa), fond memories and laughter, comes the rush of unexpected circumstances when the Nazis invade Holland And Corrie and her family are forced to choose between standing for what's true and turning 'The Beje'- The Ten Boom’s residence to a safe house to those in distress or turning them out and sealing their eyes from God's truth about love even when everything speaks against it.

The hiding place is an exhilarating read and full of lyrical depth, coupled with the weight the author gives each theme knitted with: love and heartbreak, disappointment, and the death of a loved one, embracing hope in the horrors of war and finding purpose in its aftermath and looking deeply. Each character is thoroughly human and relatable, you can literally hear God whisper all through the book, "Well, if this is all you're going to give me to work with, I'll use these women and men just as they are, to tell the world how real I am".

• Love and Heartbreak

"I first met Karel at one of the “occasions” for which Mama was famous. Afterwards, I never could remember whether it was a birthday, a wedding anniversary, or a new baby – Mama could throw a party out of anything. Willem introduced him as a friend from Leiden and he shook hands with us one by one. I took that long strong hand, looked up into those deep brown eyes and fell irretrievably in love." Page 21

Having Never married, Karel would be Corrie's first and only human love throughout her lifetime, yet she would come to understand years later after he leads her on, never marries her and shows up at her house with another woman whom he eventually gets married to that:

"Love is the strongest force in the world, and even when it seems like Love is blocked because it causes pain “God loves – even more than you do – and if you ask Him, He will give you His love, a love nothing can prevent, nothing can destroy. Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way, God can give us the perfect way.” (Page 43/44)

• Disappointment and the Death of a Loved one.

Corrie's mum had always suffered from Cerebral Haemorrhage. From the year 1918, they would watch her slip from them slowly like the fading sun.

Encased in uncertainty, Corrie would sit by her mother’s bedside and write letters dictated to her by her mother through eye gesture's to be given to the community along with food baskets and flowers, this would forever be a gentle reminder that God cares deeply even when it seems like he does not answer prayers in the way we expect when we pray.

• Embracing Hope

Corrie and her family would eventually be arrested by Nazi officials having been betrayed by close neighbours because of their involvement with the underground in hiding Jews.

The death of her father and the cruelty all around her would fill her heart with untold hate and snooze off every zeal for God and prayer.

Yet God's hand of guidance would hold her through the way as she trudges through the provision of an ant as a companion in solitary confinement, The miracle of the continuous flow of a drug she is tempted to hoard from fellow inmates because of the sickness of her sister, The miracle of lice and the hidden bible which she uses to communicate God's word to inmates, and the strength to move past the death of her sister Betsie, the grace and zest for a new assignment reach out to war survivals when the war comes to an end.

• Looking Deeply

A thoroughly terrifying truth this book leaves with me is to always pray for the foresight to look deeply into things I do not understand, especially things of eternal value.

"A Full ten years ago, way back in 1927, Willem had written in his doctoral thesis, done in Germany, that a terrible evil was taking root in that land. Right at the university, he said, seeds were being planted of contempt for human life such as the world had never seen. The few who had read his paper had laughed.” (Page 19)

Shortly after this, the Nazis would invade Holland.

Travelling through the pages of the hiding place, I cried, laughed, awwwwwwed, repented and asked for a heart to love deeply and truly. I enjoyed every moment I spent reading this page Turner Still, I am deeply certain that this review doesn’t do justice to the depth of this amazing book. Wouldn't you rather read it for yourself or have a re-read if you have read it before? You can download the hiding place on: www.b-ok.africa.com or on any website that provides free PDFs.

About Corrie Ten Boom

Corrie ten Boom and her family were Christians who were active in social work in their hometown of Haarlem, the Netherlands. During the Nazi occupation, they chose to act out their faith through peaceful resistance to the Nazis by active participation in the Dutch underground. They hid, fed, and transported Jews and underground members hunted by the Gestapo out of the country. It is estimated they were able to save the lives of 800 Jews, in addition to protecting underground workers.

Reviewed by Deborah Fiase