I love reviewing books most of the time. But every once in a while, you prepare a review you are a little…timid about giving. So that’s what I’m about to do.
The Hiding Place
By Corrie Ten Boom
Let me first say, if you have neither read the book nor watched the film, read the book first. Virtually everything in the movie is messed up, including characters who didn’t exist, important details left out and personality swaps!
This book wasn’t what I was expecting. It was…incomplete in my opinion. *Ducks to avoid being stoned* I know, I know. This is a World War Two classic! Corrie helped so many people! She was so brave. Yes, I know. And I would NEVER down play what Corrie and her family did! They are my heroes! But to me, there were certain details about their work that just…maybe hinted but didn’t fully explain what they were doing. I personally had a hard time getting into the book because of the backstory, which in itself was sad.
But the Faith of Betsie! WOW! Wanting to provide a place for her tormentors to learn about the love of God? This woman is amazing!
I would by no means discourage anyone from reading this book! It truly is a great story and needs to be told. Perhaps if I had known that it was more a biography than an account of their resistance work, I wouldn’t have been so disappointed. I wanted to know more about Pickwick, Kik and the others in the Underground. But this was not their story. This was Corrie’s story, and I am so grateful she shared it!
Seeing Corrie grow in the Love of God and her compassion that Betsie helped cultivate through her death was the most rewarding part of the book! I related to Corrie in many of her feelings about the Nazis and the conditions they were forced to live in, but it gave me hope that if faced with the same circumstances, maybe I could forgive and learn to love the enemy too.
There are some mentions of visions, women preaching, and the scripture is not King James. I do not condone these things. I think the visions were more of dreams for the future, in the end anyway, but they were made out as if they came from God, which bothered me.
Because this is a war story and an autobiography, there are details that needed to be recorded that are not appropriate for children. I wouldn’t hand this to a girl under 16 or a boy at all without editing it first. There are just some things best left unsaid. It’s hard truth, but editing the book would certainly be worth the efforts!
So, I hope this review was helpful. And I hope that if you choose to read The Hiding Place that you enjoy it! They truly were remarkable people!
Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
Have a blessed week!
Christian. American. Southern. Author.