The Cut Out Girl cover art

The Cut Out Girl

A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found

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The Cut Out Girl

By: Bart van Es
Narrated by: Bart van Es
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About this listen

*** WINNER OF THE COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018 ***

WINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2018

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Cut Out Girl written and read by Bart van Es.

'A masterpiece of history and memoir' Evening Standard

'Superb. This is a necessary book - painful, harrowing, tragic, but also uplifting' The Times

Little Lien wasn't taken from her Jewish parents - she was given away in the hope that she might be saved. Hidden and raised by a foster family in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation, she survived the war only to find that her real parents had not. Much later, she fell out with her foster family, and Bart van Es - the grandson of Lien's foster parents - knew he needed to find out why.

His account of tracing Lien and telling her story is a searing exploration of two lives and two families. It is a story about love and misunderstanding and about the ways that our most painful experiences - so crucial in defining us - can also be redefined.

'Luminous, elegant, haunting - I read it straight through' Philippe Sands, author of East West Street

'Deeply moving. Writes with an almost Sebaldian simplicity and understatement' Guardian

'Remarkable, deeply moving' Penelope Lively

©2018 Bart van Es (P)2018 Penguin Audio 20th Century Military Modern Judaism War Western Europe Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Fostering Holocaust

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All stars
Most relevant
a very interesting book book maybe not my style. i'm thinking it could've told me it more. what does a very good job around presenting human memories and how life is not always easy.

very intriguing

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An intimate story, gracefully and respectfully retold. Thank you so much to Lien and to Bart for sharing these details with the world. Lest we should forget.....

Extraordinarily Graceful

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It isn’t often there is a book brings me near to tears, but this one dead. The whole story of what happened to the Jews and the children is brilliantly written iAnd should be read by as many people as possible. Every time one thinks one has read everything one can about the Holocaust, More is make known to shock, Saturn and move. My heartfelt thanks to the author

ABrave and moving book which I shall miss

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The story of a young Jewish girl of 8 wrenched from her family because her parents sent her into hiding to evade Nazi deportation is heartbreaking and heartfelt because it is written by a younger member of her adopted family. This gives it an immediacy and poignancy that a more detached writer might have had. Mans inhumanity to man is always shocking and continues to this day, but when it is children who are caught up in this it is even more shocking. This is a beautifully written book about an ugly subject which he manages to infuse with humanity. Highly recommended.

A story for our time

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book and following the storyline of both author and subject. The narration by the author himself was excellent and added a personal feel to the telling of this story. A really interesting book on many levels and I have to say that I didn't see the closing chapters coming at all. Definitely recommended and I will look out for more from this author.

Great listen

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