Papa's War: From the London Blitz to the Liberation of Holland - Tapa blanda

This historical narrative follows the lives of a young couple separated by the upheavals of World War II. In May 1940, Jan van Houten, a Dutch journalist working in London, joins the press office of the Dutch government now exiled in England. When bombing raids over London force his wife Marie and infant daughter to leave the city, the couple write daily letters to express their love and commitment to each other. Jan’s letters vividly describe life during the Blitz, and the travails of a government-in-exile. Their correspondence resumes when, in September 1944, Jan is asked to organize press censorship in a recently liberated area of The Netherlands. Here he is eyewitness to historic events such as the aftermath of the allied forces’ failed attempt to secure a crucial bridge across the Rhine—a defeat that delays the country’s liberation by eight long months.

Written by Jan and Marie’s daughter Thérèse, Papa’s War, is based primarily on Jan’s letters backed by diaries, Marie’s letters, and historical research. It paints a compelling picture of life in wartime England and postwar Holland. Its publication coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Netherlands’ liberation from Germany on May 5, 1945.

Thérèse van Houten was born in London. Following primary and secondary education in England, Holland and Belgium, she attended college and graduate school in the United States. A doctorate in social work led to a rewarding career evaluating national social service and public health initiatives. Not until her retirement, did she consider researching the historical background of her parents’ wartime correspondence – letters that provide moving eyewitness accounts of the destruction and upheaval of World War II in England and The Netherlands. Thérèse van Houten lives in Washington, D.C.