My Mother’s War by Eva Taylor

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for My Mother’s War:

What’s worse than a concentration camp? Multiple concentration camps.

Quick synopsis:

The story of the author’s mother who lived through multiple concentration camps.

Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like:

Spies actually evaded capture by acting drunk. It doesn’t just work in movies!

Fun Fact for History Nerds:

Also not just in the movies? Wearing a tux under your wet-suit.

My Take on My Mother’s War:

Eva Taylor’s My Mother’s War is a competently written book that unfortunately does not hit the right emotional notes for the subject matter. The book describes her mother’s trials and tribulations during World War II as a Dutch resistance fighter and concentration camp survivor. The description of the book promises a harrowing tale of danger and near-death experiences. When someone survives multiple concentration camps then there will definitely be a lot of stories to tell. And there are, but that’s where the problem occurs.

Taylor’s writing style is very straight forward and often devoid of emotion. Her choice to rely heavily on her mother’s documents disconnects from the great story of World War II and often feels incomplete. Also, people are very often introduced and before we learn much about them, their ultimate fates are stated with little fanfare. The author’s mother was a spy, but we learn near nothing about those experiences. From reading other books on the subject, there is much more information which could have been mined to strengthen this story.

Verdict on My Mother’s War:

This is an easy read with important subject matter, but the writing is not top notch like a lot of other books in this genre. Buy it here!

If You Liked This Try:

• Neal Bascomb, The Winter Fortress
• Neal Bascomb, The Escape Artists
• James Scott, Rampage
• Jack Fairweather, The Volunteer