4.5
This was one of those stories that stays with you. I had no idea about the Dutch people's experience in Indonesia during WWII. It was sad to read about the horrible conditions in the internment camps, but I liked that there were glimmers of hope throughout this story. I learned a lot from this book and I also really appreciated the chapter notes at the end of the novel. I highly recommend for readers of historical fiction/non-fiction and also those who want to learn more about different aspects of WWII.

Moore is a masterful storyteller who researches little known aspects of history and brings them vividly to life. At the risk of showing my ignorance, I didn't realize how involved Japan was in WWII aside from right before Pearl Harbor onward. Their terrorizing reign of the Pacific was eye opening, as well as learning about the Dutch history on Java. We often hear/read about England, Spain, and even France colonizing the world, but I didn't realize the Dutch had made it to the Pacific. This story is one of grit and hope. I am so glad I read it!

The book is set during WWII and based on a true story about a young Dutch family who is caught in the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. In all the books I’ve ever read that are set during WWII, none of them took place in the Dutch East Indies. I had no idea the things that the Dutch and Indonesian people went through during that time period, but Ms. Moore uses her talents to really bring the era to life and pulls the reader in from the very first page.

The story is told from three perspectives—George Vischer, his wife Mary, and his daughter Rita. The author is able to give each character a compelling personality that comes through on the page. Readers will feel as if they are close friends of the Vischer family, which makes what happens to them so gripping. When George is sent off with the navy to fight the war and the minesweeper he’s on is torpedoed, his survival experience is juxtaposed with what is happening to Mary and their children as they are relocated to an internment camp. Ms. Moore expertly shows the heartache and misery of war without any graphic descriptions, while also highlighting the unexpected instances of compassion. At the beginning of each chapter a quote from a survivor of the internment camps is included, which gives extra context to what the Dutch families were facing, including the Vischer family. Though this story is heart-wrenching, there are beautiful moments of light and hope throughout as this family meets their hardship with courage and determination. This inspiring account will stay with readers long after they’ve turned the last page, a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of love. A can’t-miss book for anyone who loves historical fiction.

Heather Moore has written a novel based on a somewhat forgotten slice of WWII history. When Japanese forces take over Indonesia, Dutch workers and their families are caught up in the invasion and citizens become prisoners of war. Based of actual testimonials, the Dutch women and children are held in one camp while separated from the men, including husbands. The cruelty of the Japanese conquerors is a focal point of the book as many characters expire from starvation. This is a page turner of a story with some writing flaws where sections read like transcripts of survivors. The final resolution of the prisoners' fate is stunning as native inhabitants also hated the Dutch and become intent on murdering them.

Another historical fiction book to read is Under the Java Moon by Heather B. Moore. I absolutely loved her book, The Paper Daughters of Chinatown and highly recommend it- that was a five star read for me. Under the Java Moon didn’t grab me the same way, but it’s still a great book and writing with such detail that you cannot deny the talent of the author.

Six-year-old Rita Vischer cowers in her family’s dug-out bomb shelter, listening to the sirens and waiting for a bomb to fall. Her charmed life on Java—living with other Dutch families—had always been peaceful, but when Holland declares war on Japan and the Japanese army invades Indonesia, Rita’s family is forced to relocate to a POW camp, and Rita must help care for her little brother, Georgie.

Mary Vischer is three months pregnant when she enters the Tjideng women’s camp with thousands of other women and children. Her husband, George, is somewhere on the Java Sea with the Dutch Navy, so she must care alone for her young children, Rita and Georgie, and her frail mother-in-law. The brutal conditions of the overcrowded camp make starvation, malaria, and dysentery a grim reality. Mary must do everything she can to keep her family alive.

George Vischer survives the bombing of his minesweeper but feels little hope floating on a small dinghy in the Java Sea. Reaching the northern tip of the Thousand Islands would be a miracle. Focusing on of the love of his life, Mary, and his two children, he battles against the sea and merciless sun. He’ll do whatever it takes to close the divide between him and his family, even if it means risking being captured by the Japanese.

Under the Java Moon highlights a little-known part of WWII history and the impact of war on Indonesia, its people, and the more than 100,000 Dutch men, women, and children who were funneled into prison camps and faced with the ultimate fight for survival.

OUT NOW

#UndertheJavaMoon #NetGalley
I never knew about the Dutch Internment Camps until I read Under the Java Moon. Thank you Heather Moore for finding the untold stories. This book is based on a true story told through the eyes of young Rita Vischer, whose family was separated during WWII. Rita shares what it felt like to have to stand for sometimes hours during roll call and bowing to the Japanese soldiers. If someone did something wrong, then roll call would start all over again. The food was scarce and many became sick, some would bounce back and others would die.
Her father was in the Navy and survives the bombing of his mine sweeper and is eventually captured and put in a prison camp.Rita tells the story of seeing her father along the side of the road working and how he looked so different because of malnutrition.
This book will be one that stays with me. The horrible trials of living in the camp, how brutal some of the guards could be, what they found to eat just trying to survive.

It's too bad that the phrase "world war" is well-worn. When I think of WWII stories, I think of concentration camps in Europe, ration cards, antisemitism, etc. Indonesia and the Netherlands to not come readily to mind, so I'm glad this story has been shared. Themes of heroism, sacrifice, and suffering that you see in other war stories exist in this one, but it's good to remember a world war affects the entire world and we want to know about everybody's stories.

There are so many books and stories from World War II, so I always feel like I know a lot about it, and then a new story is told about a place or a battle or an aspect of the war that I wasn't aware of before. This book tells the story of Java, a place I've never really heard about before, and the Dutch internment by the Japanese, an aspect of the war I'd never heard about before either. Told from the perspectives of three members of the Vischer family, the father, George, the mother, Mary, and the daughter, Rita. There are fictionalized aspects and characters but used to tell true experiences of members of the Java concentration camps and the Japanese leaders. War is never pretty, but Moore does a great job of weaving the stories of the survivors into a readable form that is true and brutal about the harshness and the devastation and the abuse they experienced, but in a manner which is still honest without being as graphic as it could be. There are still lots of descriptions of the atrocities but not to an extreme extent. The main thing I struggled with was there are lots of characters with similar names, which Moore notes at the beginning of the book, but I found it confusing that when Marie was supposed to be referred to as Rita, she was instead referred to as Ita. For me, my brain continually read It and I think it would have read better as Rita consistently rather than the nickname Ita. As always, Moore pays a lot of attention to detail, descriptions, and historical accuracy. There are extensive footnotes at the back of the book relating to the historical facts in each chapter and notations of where she took some liberties and where she gleaned information from multiple characters to tie into the Tjideng internees and the Vischer and Vos families. This is a novelization of true events without the plot of a "traditional" fiction book but instead an accounting of true experiences and trauma that the Dutch internees experienced in the Java concentration camps.

Content: Clean but triggers of multiple World War II experiences of prisoners of war, internment camps, physical and emotional abuse, and other war-related accountings.

Heather B More weaves another moving tale bringing history to life. If you enjoy histortical fiction and want to read one of the master storytellers, this book is a must.

This book was just so well put together! I loved how the chapters went between characters and you could see the experience from so many different angles! What a tragic element of war. War CAMPS! Who knew that it was happening on a small little island! I am constantly in awe of the things that people went through during WWII. Everywhere! I know that there is so much more out there to learn about the horrors of WWI & WWII. Thank you to Ms Moore for being brave enough to meet Rita and share her story. Such a blessing it is to remember the numerous ways people can overcome trauma in their lives! I loved it! I did listen to the audiobook and the narrator was amazing!

Thanks to NetGalley for this book all opinions are mine.

Wow! A harrowing, impactful novel. Based on a true story this novel is incredibly well researched and written. It follows the experiences of the Visher family who are split up after the Japanese invaded Java. The mother and children are sent to an internment camp while their father has an incredible adventure of his own. The resilience, love, hope and determination the family had during such awful times shines throughout the story. I almost cried many times reading the horrors they endured. The short anecdotes at the beginning of each chapter aided in the story and the immense research done by the author shines throughout. Highly recommend. I learned a lot about events I did not know about prior to reading. My favorite type of experience. This is a book that will be difficult to forget.

Under the Java Moon
Heather B. Moore


Heather B. Moore’s latest novel is tragic yet full of hope, it’s sad but there’s always a light shining and it’s often hard to read but it’s so necessary for the world to never forget the brutalities of this awful war. We often read WWII stories about fighting the Nazis but not often about the barbarity of Japanese to their captives. This novel is based on one of those stories, of Marie (Rita) Vischer and what she and her family suffered during the war. Moore doesn’t pull punches about the horrors these captives suffered at the hands of the Japanese who were often just as demonic if not at times more than the Nazis in how they treated their prisoners, but the Japanese unlike the Nazis who mostly targeted the Jews were equal opportunity monsters who treated all their prisoners, men, women and children worse than animals. The book is easy to understand but hard to absorb how people could have treated other people the way the Japanese did. There are so few people left who lived through this war and we can’t let stories like Rita’s fade because history will repeat itself if we let our guard down. This book is perfect for fans of WWII stories, historical novels based on facts and all fans of just really great storytelling, it’s easy to understand why Library Journal gave this novel a starred review and it should be a required read for every high school student.

Once the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor all the allied nations with interest in the Pacific mobilized but they were stretched thin fighting the Nazis and as a result were no match for the Japanese and soon one by one the Islands of the Pacific Rim fell to. The Netherland East Indies Island of Java was one of those that the Japanese occupied during the War.

The Vischer family called Java home and with war knocking on their door patriarch George found himself conscripted and soon received orders that would take him away from his family, his wife Mary, his children Rita 4, Georgie 2 and his mother-in-law to face what would soon become the nightmare of being prisoners of war and placed in a concentration camp. For the next 3.5 years this family along with many of their friends and neighbors faced atrocities and deplorable living conditions, where death and torture were the new normal and where survival was elusive.

Remarkably moving and enlightening! I learned so much. I had no idea that the Dutch were prisoners of the Japanese in Indonesia during WWII. This is a hard story to read because it is so incredibly sad. However, Heather Moore uses her incredible talents to bring the story to life. The Vischer family and their friends from Java Island have come to mean so much to me. Moore does a great job of highlighting the strengths of the characters in this story. I learned so much about the history of that time. I appreciate the footnotes that help me understand where the information came from.

This stunning book by Moore is about how the tragedy of WWII impacted the Dutch living on Java Island, which I knew nothing about. Based on a true story, with incredible first hand notes, this novel left me grateful for family, freedom, and the power of the human spirit.

It’s written from a mother, father, and child’s point of view. And it’s gripping. Though this author is known for her historical fiction, this is my favorite. I cried. I hurt. I applauded. I felt. I learned.

It’s a story about finding dignity and hope while living for years in a POW camp. I admired the way the author had me clearly see through the eyes of all the different parties and gave me a glimpse of those who chose kindness.

All of us have been impacted by war even if it’s from generations in the past. But the questions of what and how I would react in the pages of this book are impossible to answer.

Rita, Mary, and George made choices daily to keep their family together and learn to cope. Their story left me with a heart filled with gratitude and how a life is lived with hope.

I am leaving a voluntary review of this complimentary copy. In a world of me and now, this story speaks more of us and always. A beautiful story.

What an outstanding book! I loved Rita right away and was eager to hear her story. She was a Dutch child living in a Japanese prison camp on the Indonesian Island of Java during WW2. The story is mainly told from her point of view but also includes her father and mother.

The Dutch occupation of the East Indies is not something I was familiar with so it was very interesting. Rita’s family was living on Java when Holland declared war on Japan and in return the Japanese conquered Indonesia. There were many POW camps but Rita’s happened to be controlled by a sadistic commander. It was heartbreaking to read about the brutal conditions she and others endured.

The thing that struck me the most is how, at her young age, she was such a help to her mother and family. She tried hard not to complain or bring unnecessary attention to her family so that they would stay under the radar and not be in a position to be punished. What a hard thing for a child to do between the ages of 5-8!

I was saddened to learn that when the Japanese lost and the Indonesians won their country back, they wanted revenge on the Dutch by killing them. I can understand how after having their country taken over by Holland, they would be glad to finally have it back, but it was sad to imagine how scary it would be to think you are finally free from the Japanese only to have to try and get away from the Indonesians without being shot by snipers. And then, on a final trip home most of them died from illness.

Heather B. Moore wrote, Under the Java Moon, after listening to Rita tell the true story in her own words. Heather mentions what parts are facts vs fiction and includes extensive chapter notes, a selected bibliography and discussion questions as well. There is even an afterward written by Rita herself!

I am thankful I was able to read and learn about Rita, her family and many others who lived through this terrible war.

Many thanks to Heather B. Moore and Shadow Mountain Publishing for this ARC via NetGalley!

Based on a true story, this gripping World War II novel takes us on a journey of the war in a place most of us Americans know very little about, Java Island in Indonesia.

This story is heartbreaking on one hand. War stories, albeit mostly fiction, are still based on the ugly facts of what humans have done to each other, time and place immemorial. Under the Java Moon is an inspirational story of the resilience of a Dutch family when the Japanese take the island and put the Dutch into camps.

In addition to being inspirational, this book was fascinating and refreshing, as I didn't know much about Pacific part of the war, nor the Dutch internment camps. Mary's persistent love and devotion to making sure her kids knew they were special and loved was immensely emotional.

Absolute must-read if you enjoy WWII stories and are looking for a new, refreshing take on the genre!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

This book is hooks you on the first page and doesn't let go. The author brings the story to live with her words and you feel like you are there. It tells the story of part of the war I knew nothing about. It's heartbreaking to read how inhumane the people were treated. I highly recommend this book .
I received a complimentary copy from Shadow Mountain Publishing via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This books is very well done. The experiences of the Dutch living in Indonesia during World War 2 is something that is seldom talked about, and the author does a wonderful job shedding light on this piece of history. As someone whose family members lived through this, I was very interested in learning more.

This book follows one family's ordeal and is told from the perspectives of mother, father, and daughter, which adds great depth and interest. Since mothers and children were separated from fathers, we get to see different more sides to the story.

The storytelling was engaging and the author covers very heavy topics and gives an honest accounting of what really went on, without ever getting graphic in detail or making me so uncomfortable that I couldn't keep reading. I love how she highlighted all of the ways that the people supported each other and showed compassion throughout this horrible time. And I especially appreciated knowing that there were a good amount of Japanese guards who did what they could to show kindness and humanity to the prisoners.

This book is a must read for anyone who enjoys World War 2 history

This book was very eye opening. I was not familiar with the Japanese occupation of the Netherlands East Indies. What a horrific experience for the Dutch prisoners. I was grateful it didn’t seem to be as brutal as some other experiences I’ve read about, but being told from a child’s perspective may have made it seem more tame. It was noted the parents often took punishments for things the children did.

This wasn’t a fast read for me, but I’m very grateful that Marie Vischer Elliott allowed her heartbreaking story to be told. It’s important to learn about the past to prevent these awful things from happening again.

Very insightful, I didn't know anything about this area and WW2. It's amazing to me that this story is being shared after so long, it is a story of residence and strength.I recommend this book!