I've been a fan of Ronald H. Balson for some time now. Everything he writes is powerful - I don't know what other word to use. It leaves me with my jaw dropped and goosebumps as I think about what people went through. Cowards and heros, they all have a place in history and Ronald manages to bring their struggles to life with his fiction writing. If you are in need of a good historical fiction book, look no further!

Can ordinary men and women make a difference when the world is in such chaos? One might ask that question in 2024, and the answer is yes! if we have the courage to do so. One only needs to look to this important book written by Ronald Balson, National Jewish book award winner for inspiration. Teddy had a rather comfortable job in DC at the State Department until he is transferred to Amsterdam and now works for the US Consulate processing visa applications. Sadly very few will escape, as there are just too many applications in the system. As Teddy acclimates to his new position he is introduced to a young girl who has been abandoned and he and his girlfriend agree to adopt. They find there are many many more children like Katy, and he joins the underground to save these children. It is a story of bravery, dedication, fearlessness, and hope. that will stay with you for quite some time. A welcome addition to public libraries WWII fiction sections.

By happenstance, in a coffee shop in Tel Aviv, Karyn ,a journalist and Dutch holocaust survivor as a child, meets a man who hears her history and her wish to find her long lost sister, Annie. Karyn is put in touch with Teddy Hartigan, son of a wealthy politically conservative father with influence enough to help Teddy get a job in pre war 1938 Amsterdam, as a diplomat in the Amsterdam American consulate, charged with assisting applicants secure an American visa. Teddy left his home and fiancé in Washington DC to embark upon what would turn out to be the story of a lifetime. Teddy has never been able to find the words to relate his,life’s story to his grandchildren and strikes a deal with Karyn. If she will agree to write his biography he will call in favors and attempt to locate Annie.

What follows is Teddy telling the details of his time in Amsterdam to Karyn. The story itself is important and compelling with some real life war heroes alongside the fictional ones. For me the problem was that the retelling conversation sounded more like a history text than the way people actually use spoken language. I was disappointed and started to speed read. But then, as I read on the story itself took precedence over the vehicle used in telling the tale. as I felt myself actually in a clueless and naive Holland that just could not fathom the evil lurking at their borders and the possibly that the Netherlands,, declaring itself neutral, could fall victim to the Nazi war machine determined to control all of Europe while annihilating every last Jew.

At a time presently when the world once more struggles with virulent and pervasive antisemitism, the message in this novel is a crucial one. Never underestimate what evil minds can conjure and set into motion. Remember that speaking out and doing the next right things to fight against inhumanity is essential. As Teddy tells of the effort to save Jewish lives, both families and children, from the soulless Hell imposed by Hitler and his henchmen, we see how hope can rise when good people ban together in righteous acts. At the end of the book, Balson has a chapter about his research and tells which characters actually existed. Wonderful to read that summary which gives closure to a remarkable story.

Four shining stars for an imperfect but very engaging story with an urgent message. It was published on September 17,2024 and is available now. Read it for an historical perspective that I’ve never read before in a fictional account of Holland’s brave resistance and their efforts to save the lives Jewish children. My thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s press for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my #gifted copy of A Place To Hide! #APlaceToHide #RonaldHBalson #stmartinspress #historicalfiction

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐀 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐇𝐢𝐝𝐞
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐑𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐇. 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

𝟰.𝟱★

This was my first book by Ron Balson and I will definitely be reading more! This book was so well written and filled with suspense. I loved how it showed an ordinary person taking extraordinary measures during such difficulty times to make such a big differences. I found this story to be inspiring and I really enjoyed the author’s note at the end. This book is another example of why I love reading historical fiction. I highly recommend this one!

I've never read any of this author's books. I've also never read about Holland during WW2. This author did a great job of capturing my attention and holding it throughout this sad story. Based on actual events that happened during the Nazi's occupation of Holland and what happened to the Jewish people who had lived there peacefully up until this point.

There are a few major characters in this book: Theodore "Teddy" Hartigan, Karyn Sachnoff, Sara Rosenbaum, Julia Powers, and Saul and Deborah Rosenbaum. A few secondary characters.

Teddy is telling this story to Karyn. He lived it and she is writing it for him. Teddy promised to help Karyn look for her sister Annie. Karyn and her sister were separated when the Nazi's started taking people. Some children were adopted by good and decent people and their names changed. Karyn and her sister Annie were among the adopted children. Teddy is a very old man of 92 living in an assisted living facility who wants his story told. His grandchildren and other people need to know what he did and what happened during the time he worked in Amsterdam in the US Consulate.

This story is set in 2002 Silver Spring, Maryland, but the story being told is set back in 1938- and set in Holland. Teddy is telling this story. It is a setting that I've not read before and I've read quite a few historical books. While this is a fiction book it is based on actual events that happened during this time. You get to know Teddy and Sara. They become a couple. Sara is a Jewish woman. They met when Julia, a coworker of Teddy's, talks him into going out one New Years to celebrate. He had lost who he thought was the love of his life when he took the job. He is a U. S. citizen.

This is a very emotional story in many places. A love story also. The love between Teddy and Sara. How they worked to help save Jews from being sent to camps. Rounded up and taken from their homes. And the children. Oh my what they did to these children. I haven't read about this part either. The Nazi's hated Jews so bad that they sent children to death camps because they were useless. Loud and cost to much to keep. The ones old enough to work were spared. Old people were sent to the death camps also. In this story you learn about a group that helped place many of these children in homes. They were adopted and saved from slaughter. They never saw their biological families again though. It was tough I'm sure on the parents and the children but they loved their babies enough to give them up. To let them live.

Teddy tells a story here that will definitely make you weep in places. The love between he and Sara is so strong. The friendships they make are unforgettable. Teddy was a strong man who only wanted to help. Now he tells his story.

This book is fiction but based on actual facts. Well researched and written. I'm so glad I read this one. I learned things and that is always good.

Thank you #NetGalley, #StMartinsPress, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five big stars.

Working in the visa department of Amsterdam's US Consulate puts Teddy in the midst of the Nazi crackdown on the Jewish people. Finding himself in a position to hide people and save their lives, he makes the decision to aid in this brutal war. Well written.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press/Publishing for the ARC of "A Place to Hide" in exchange for an honest review..
I'm tempted to say how up=to=the-minute this book is, arriving in the very midst of our American election, but then.....oh well, I've already said it haven't I?
This is one powerful, ambitious historical adventure, filled with meticulous research and enough genuine real life suspense and dread to fill a dozen thrillers. For sheer terror with the sweep of world-changing history, no era could compare with Hitler's conquering Nazi hordes marching across Europe. And as they swallow the continent, they fully enforce their so-called 'final solution' to Europe's Jewish population - total extermination.
Caught in the swirl of horrendous oncoming events is Theordore 'Teddy Hartigan' a young State Department striver who found himself assigned to the thankless task of administrating refugee travel visas at the American consulate in Amsterdam. It's a heartbreaking futile effort for Teddy since the visa quotas are filled and he can do little or nothing to help thousands of desperate families seeking the sanctuary of America to avoid persecution and death at the hands of the Nazis.
Then Teddy, who naively thought Germany would not invade the Netherlands,, comes to fully comprehend the oncoming abomination. He's fallen in love with Sara, a Jewish schoolteacher and they've both come to adore little Katy, an orphaned, Jewish refugee. With travel papers impossible to obtain as Nazis march into Amsterdam, how can he possibly save them along with thousands of others trying to escape?
Told in the form of memoirs dictated by a now elderly Teddy, "A Place To Hide' masterfully creates a full vivid picture of innocent people caught in the crush of the most unimaginable events in 20th century history. And that, for me was enough to keep me reading long into the night and eager to get right back to it the next day. Highest recommendation.
(And I'll even resist saying things like....'and if you think it can't happen here'........oops, I did it again, didn't I.....)

A Place to Hide is an engaging WWII historical fiction novel that is a story within a story. Part is set in present day Silver Spring, Maryland where Karyn, a woman from Israel, has agreed to take down 92 year old Teddy's holocaust story for his grandchildren. Teddy is not Jewish, but when he is given a diplomatic post in the Netherlands just as Hitler is ramping up his offensives, he becomes involved with a Jewish woman and his life takes a decidedly different turn. The focus of the story is on the significant efforts in Holland to save many Jewish children and also Jewish families through a variety of techniques and in a surprisingly widespread way among the general populace. It's a lovely story. Although the stark facts of the death camps are regularly referenced, Balson seems to avoid it getting too messy. This is both a problem, because part of me says that every book about the holocaust must be about the terrible losses at some fundamental level and the devastation wrought and a blessing because we can see that some people survived because people did not turn their backs on them. They did this at great risk to themselves. We all know that when the Frank family was discovered, the people that hid them also were arrested. Still, the novel felt a bit too pleasant and people in it were a little too lucky.

So, it was worth a read, but not complex enough for the story it told, as the afterward makes very clear.

A Place to Hide follows Teddy, an American who was working at the US consulate in Amsterdam at the start of WWII. We meet him when he is 92 years old and wants to have a book written about his life in Amsterdam so he can share his story with his grandchildren. His story involves working with secret organizations to hide Jewish families and children.

Parts of this story are based on true events and it was very surreal to read about this after just being in Amsterdam. I visited the Jewish Theater (part of the Holocaust Museum) while I was there, and saw several of the buildings referenced in this story, which made it easier to envision what was going on. I found I was able to connect more with the characters because of this.

Ultimately, the writing style of this book wasn't really for me, but that is a personal thing. The book is written almost entirely as dialogue because Teddy is telling his story to the writer. The dialogue felt a bit stiff at times and I struggled with that. Others may enjoy this type of writing more than me though, so I would still recommend the book to people looking for an interesting WWII historical fiction.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

As always, I learned some new things while reading historical fiction. This is the story of Teddy, an older gentleman who is anxious to get his life story down on paper for his family ( or maybe just for himself) This story tells the story of children in The Netherlands during WWII. I liked the information but I found the writing style to be difficult to love. I just couldn't get lost in the story.

Real life stories are woven together with Ronald H Balson’s characters in A Place to Hide, a story about The Netherlands perspective of WWII. Theodore “Teddy” Hartigan is the scion of a wealthy Washington, D.C. family who place him into a comfortable job at the State Department and a placid diplomat’s career. In 1938, as Hitler’s inexorable rise continues, Teddy is re-assigned to the US Consulate in Amsterdam to replace fleeing staff.

Teddy feels completely safe in the knowledge that Holland has declared it’s neutrality in Hitler’s war on other European countries. As time goes on, Germany takes over more and more, forcing people like Teddy’s partner to live in fear.

I loved this story, I honestly didn’t know that much about the war’s affect on The Netherlands other than reading The Diary of Anne Frank when I was younger. This book is heartbreaking and beautiful as we watch the Dutch people pull together and try and fight for what is right. The way that Germany was able to bully it’s way across Europe and try to exterminate the entire Jewish race will always break my heart to read about. That level of hate will never make sense to me. I feel so incredibly sad for the families that were ripped apart, never to find each other again. Although our memoir writer Karyn is a fictional character, her story is all too real of the children that were secreted away from their parents to be hidden with Christian families so that they might escape being sent to the concentration camps.

I would like to thank St Martin’s Press for providing me a copy in exchange for my honest review. A Place to Hide is now available at your local library or book seller

For more reviews and bookish posts visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

A Place to Hide by Ronald H. Balson is a historical fiction story following a US State Department diplomat during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Mr. Balson is a published author, educator, and an attorney.

Theodore Haritgan, a man in his late 90s has been contacted by Karyn, a Holocaust survivor, hoping to find her sister. She was adopted by a family and her identity changed to save her life, however her true name was lost, and she hoped he can help her while, at the same time, writing his biography.

Teddy, the son of a powerful DC insider has gotten a promotion and an opportunity to get ahead in the US State Department. He is placed in the Consulate in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to process visas for refugees from the Nazi war machine.

Teddy hates his job but loves Amsterdam. Soon he falls in love with a Jewish woman, Sara, and the couple decides to adopt a young refugee named Katy. However, even as a wife of a diplomat Sara is unable to escape Europe and Teddy stays realizing that he holds the lives of his new family in his hands.

This is an interesting novel about the Netherlands before and during the Nazi occupation. I found the research to be excellent, this is a true historical fiction, not a story which takes place in the past. The main characters in the book are fictional, however they live through historical events, interacting with people that existed.

Most WWII novels focus on atrocities, I assume that’s what people want. A Place to Hide by Ronald H. Balson, however, focuses on the groups of Dutch citizens who, at great personal risk, made a positive difference to save lives.

After reading historical fiction books, I always make sure to read the author’s notes at the end, when available. In the Book Lover’s Library I learned more about English lending libraries, and in this book I took the time to look up the creche, a nursery school that played a part in the story.

The Nazis arrested a large number of Amsterdam’s Jews and put them in the Jewish Theater, Hollandsche Schouwburg, but allowed the children to be put in a nursery on the other side of the street headed by Henriëtte Pimentel. Ms. Pimentel was an educator and a member of the Dutch resistance who dvices a plan to sneak out the kids and have them adopted by Christians. All the while, the manager of Hollandsche Schouwburg, Walter Süskind, erased the children’s names from the German lists.
Another amazing World War II story.

In a time when Jews around the world are being vilified and antisemitism is running wild under the guise of “protest” and “intellectualism”, it’s important to remember the consequences of such rhetoric.

I am enjoying A Place to Hide but I can't read it non-stop because the events are so depressing, especially considering current events in US, Israel and Gaza. Please pardon me but I can't review on Amazon right now. Thank you for letting me read this book; I will put a review on Amazon when I can finish it.

I love how this story unfolded! Teddy, is telling his story to a reporter in exchange for finding out who she is. She was sent to safety as a baby during the war. She knows nothing about herself. Teddy has connections and wants to leave behind his story for his grandchildren.

This is a unique tale told in two different time lines. It has lots of history that I had no idea about. Y’all know this is my favorite time period. But the setting of Amsterdam in the war is unusual. I did not know a lot of details of what happened in this area of the world.

Teddy works for the US consulate and he is in charge of all the visa applications. So, you can just imagine that his job is stressful. He ends up falling in love with a young Jewish girl and they have adopted an abandoned child. This leads them to help hide quite a few children when they are invaded by the Nazis. So, emotions run rampant in this novel.

The only reason for the four star rating is that I felt the ending was rushed. I wanted a bit more. This is minor, it just didn’t quite feel finished.

The narrator, Fred Berman, did an excellent job. There are quite a few different characters throughout this novel and he had a unique voice for every one.

Need a good WWII novel set in Amsterdam…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

This piece of historical fiction is a fresh take on the classic ww2 narrative, told from the perspective of an American ambassador to the Netherlands just prior to Hitlers takeover. The main character, known for smuggling Jewish orphans out of Europe, spends the book detailing his story in an interview to a woman adopted at a young age during the war, unsure of her heritage or what remains of her birth family.

Unfortunately the interview style didn’t work for me over the course of this book. The interviews seemed a little too perfect and orchestrated, making it feel cheesy.

Readers who prefer straightforward writing, dual timelines, and fully PG narratives will find what they are looking for here. Solid 3⭐️ for this reader.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

It seems that I frequently find myself drawn to historical fiction focused on World War II. This book gives a slightly different perspective as the main character narrates his actions as an American working for the US consulate in the Netherlands. When Teddy realizes how difficult it is getting for people to get Visas through legitimate channels, he realizes he can't simply return to America safely when so many others are in jeopardy and joins the resistance effort.
Balson does an incredible job in this book and in his other works to mesh a compelling story while still including some historical details. Not always easy to read because of the subject matter, but history that needs to be read just the same.

You know how some historical fiction is heavy on the story and light on the actual history (and sometimes the timeline has been fudged in order to better align with the narrative)? This is definitely not like that. As Teddy tells his story to Karyn, you see the build up to WW2 happen (in a CliffsNotes or TLDR kind of way) via the new laws and subtle policy changes. Readers that love to have a lot of information in their books will love this one. My eyes typically start going cross-eyed and my brain tunes out if I start seeing a lot of dates in novels. I did not have this problem while reading A Place to Hide. In fact, I read it in one sitting. There's enough story to keep the historical fiction lovers happy and enough history to keep the nonfiction readers happy. I'm off to go check out more of Ronald H. Balson's books.

Thank you, Netgalley, for allowing me to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.

Although the book seems like an interesting read, it is too detail-oriented for my current cognitive issues. There are many details within the first chapters, and I got overwhelmed with information and American history ( I'm not American, so there was googling.

It does seem like an amazing book for history lovers, and I do recommend it; it's just not for me.

This is an astounding story of bravery, dedication, fearlessness, and hope. I've read a lot of WWII historical fiction, but I was not aware of what went on in the Netherlands until I read this book.

In a vein similar to Schindler's List, this is a historical fiction story of courage and unselfishness that is recounted by an American government consulate worker who spent a treacherous time in the Netherlands during WWII. He chose to stay even when he could have gone back to the U.S.

In reading this book about heroic men and women who performed astonishing feats of bravery in the face of adversity, I was once again awestruck by the selflessness and devotion of people that wanted to help others, even if it put the safety and security of themselves and their families at great risk in which they could lose everything they owned, including their lives.

My sincere thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read a DRC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

A Place to Hide by Ronald Balson

Ninety-two year old Theodore (Teddy) Hartigan has a story to tell and Israeli Karyn, a journalist, wants to find her sister. Their relationship will help them both. Karyn flies to Washington DC to scribe the memoir of Teddy’s life. In return, he promises to help find Annie, lost years ago in the Nazi cleansing of the Netherlands during WWII.

Great research went into the telling of Teddy’s story. Holland was neutral during WWI and remained neutral as the Nazis began to invade Europe. No one believed Germany would take over the Netherlands until it was too late. Teddy must find a way to get his family out of harm’s way. They are all Jewish, and Hartigan’s story of his life in Amsterdam during that period was representative of thousands living that nightmare.

This is a solid four star historical fiction novel I recommend to anyone interested in this genre.