Three Ordinary Girls

Description

The astonishing true story of three fearless teenagers who wielded their youth and innocence as weapons of resistance in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands of WWII. Award-winning historian Tim Brady brings to light the remarkable daring of Dutch sisters Truus and Freddie Oversteegen and their red-haired friend Hannie Schaft in this “moving story spotlighting the extraordinary heroism of everyday people during the war and the Holocaust” (Publishers Weekly).

Truus Oversteegen, her younger sister Freddie, and their friend Hannie Schaft were just teenagers when the commander of The Dutch Royal Army surrendered to the Nazis. Overnight, nine million Netherlanders were suddenly under the heel of the Nazi boot. As Third Reich troops swarmed their hometown, the girls sought out a small resistance cell in the Dutch city of Haarlem.

Beginning with covert acts of resistance – lifting German ID cards to counterfeit, spreading news about strikes, distributing anti-Nazi literature – the girls soon were called on for bigger jobs with higher stakes, from gathering intelligence to detonating bombs. “With nothing to lose but their own lives,” Hannie, Truus, and Freddie took terrifying direct action against Nazi targets. They sheltered Jews, political dissidents, and Dutch resisters. They sabotaged bridges and railways. Disguised, they rescued children from being sent to concentration camps. They covertly transported weapons and set military facilities ablaze. And they carried out the assassinations of German soldiers and traitors—on public streets and in private traps—with the courage and daring of veteran guerilla fighters and seasoned spies.

Harrowing, emotional, and unforgettable, Three Ordinary Girls finally moves these three icons of resistance into the deserved forefront of world history.Praise for Three Ordinary Girls
 
“This triple biography tells how three very young people made the extremely difficult choice to actively fight against their fascist oppressors. A book like this makes you wonder what choices you would make in the same situation… The story of these three brave young women is a powerful example of counterfactual history.” —Medium
 
“A dramatic group portrait of three teenage girls who fought in the Dutch resistance movement during WWII. Brady conveys the inhumanity of the period with precision….This moving story spotlights the extraordinary heroism of everyday people during the war and the Holocaust.” —Publishers Weekly

“The book’s teenage protagonists and their bravery will enthrall young adults, who may find themselves inspired to take up their own causes.” —The Washington Post

“Brady paints a compelling picture of the fear, tragedy and paranoia of living in an enemy-occupied land. Heroism and betrayal exist side by side; mistakes are made in the fog of war.” – Minneapolis Star-Tribune
 
“Whoever said truth is stranger than fiction might well have had “Three Ordinary Girls” in mind. This is thriller writing of the highest order, as riveting as it is relentless.” —The Providence Journal

“Relying heavily on Truus’ own observations, as well as previous works about Hannie’s life, this book will please Brady’s fans as well as those who are interested in new and different stories of WWII.” —Booklist
 
“This book will please Brady’s fans as well as those who are interested in new and different stories of WWII.” —Booklist
 
“Exhaustively researched and written with both authority and style, Tim Brady’s Three Ordinary Girls is history that reads like a novel. A vivid and unforgettable portrait of three young women who put their lives on the line in a very personal fight against Naziism, this book is a page-turner and is highly recommended.” —Stephen Harding, New York Times best-selling author of The Last Battle.
 
“James Bond on bicycles, Brady’s Three Ordinary Girls are NOT so Ordinary. These three teenage girls: Truus, her little sister Freddie, and the redheaded Hannie are courage personified and key members of the legendary Dutch resistance. Whether they are assassinating Nazis from their bicycles or smuggling Jewish children and satchels of weapons under the nose of the Gestapo, following these three not-so ordinary girls is a nail-biting experience, an exciting book that you won’t be able to put down until the last page.” —Heather Dune Macadam, author of 999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz
 
“An important, untold story from WWII that needed to be told. A brave tale about an incredibly brave sisterhood who fought for all that was good and right and just in the world. The word ‘hero’ tends to be over-used these days, but not here – not with these utterly extraordinary heroines.” —Damien Lewis, #1 International Bestselling author of Churchill’s Hellraisers and Churchill’s Band of Brothers
 
“Tim Brady writes captivatingly of under-recognized heroes and self-sacrifice in a chapter of the war’s history that will now be better known.” —Jack El-Hai, author of The Nazi and the Psychiatrist and The Lost Brothers, and winner of the 2020 Book Award in Biography/History from the American Society of Journalists and AuthorsTim Brady is an award-winning history author who’s critically acclaimed books include Twelve Desperate Miles, A Death in San Pietro, His Father’s Son and Three Ordinary Girls. In addition to contributing numerous articles, reviews, essays and short stories for a wide range of magazines, newspapers and journals, he has written and helped develop a number of television documentaries, including the Peabody Award-winning series, Liberty! The American Revolution for PBS. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.US

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