Passing On The Comfort : The War, The Quilts, and the Women Who Made a Difference
Packed into under 200 pages is the powerful narrative of a Dutch resistance operation during WWII conducted by Keuning-Tichelaar and her husband, Herman, a Mennonite minister. With the support of their townspeople, the two young newlyweds sheltered and saved the lives of Jewish adults and children, and others in danger from the Nazis. As part of a relief effort, quilts were created by women in North American Mennonite circles and sent to the Netherlands. Beautifully illustrated with 19 color photographs of the quilts, this book describes in an understated voice the harrowing events and the daily acts of courage that Keuning-Tichelaar undertook. When, decades later, coauthor Kaplanian-Buller, a U.S. citizen living in Amsterdam, found the old quilts, she persuaded An to share her story. But Kaplanian-Buller also weaves in her own story: married to a Palestinian, she strains for multicultural relevance, but this is An's inspiring story and the focus should have remained on her. Although the intention was for the joined narratives to resemble a patchwork quilt, the result is frequently confusing, with far too many details.(June)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.