A Story of Espionage, Love and Betrayal

Tamar by Mal Peet
Having visited the Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam a few years ago, I was interested in reading this story of two English trained Dutch resistance fighters. This story flashes back and forth between the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1945 and England in 1995, as fifteen-year-old Tamar, grief-stricken by the puzzling death of her beloved grandfather, slowly begins to uncover the secrets of her grandfather's life in the Dutch resistance during the last year of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and the climactic events that forever cast a shadow on his life and that of his family.

While there are moments of suspense, especially during the final year of occupation in Holland, it does not sustain that suspense as Tamar is trying to unravel the mystery behind her grandfather's role in World War II. In fact when she follows a map of Northern England, left to her by her grandfather, the story slows down, almost like a travelogue in slow motion.

Tamar received glowing reviews from Booklist, VOYA, Kirkus, School Library Journal, Library Journal, Horn Book. As a young adult novel, it will keep the reader in suspense. I enjoyed the portion of the book that takes place in wartime the Netherlands, but personally I found the behavior of one of the main characters (Dart) to be somewhat juvenile or childish, not the type of behavior you would expect from a resistance fighter trained by the British. I will leave the final verdict on this book up to the intended audience. On a scale of 5 stars, I would give it 3.