The Cut Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found: The Costa Book of the Year 2018

Bart van Es was born in the Netherlands and is bilingual in English and Dutch. He now lives with his family in England. He is a Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Catherine's College.

Astonishing. Van Es has created amasterpieceof history and memoir, concluding on a note ofreconciliation, hopeandgreat love
Anextraordinary,harrowingstory ofloss, survival and love
Deeply moving, this is aremarkablememoir
Powerful. . .extraordinary
Brought to life with family photographs and diary entries that add further impact to Lien'sharrowing memories and testimony - this deeply affecting and fascinating story is guaranteed to haunt you
Remarkable- the story ofone traumatic childhood,deeply moving, and told withgreatdexterity, allowing thewisdoms of todayto run parallel with theabsorbing narrative of wartimeevents
Compassionateandthoughtfullyrendered, the book is both amemorable portraitof aremarkablewomanand a testament to thehealing power of understanding. Acomplexandupliftingtale
Anuanced,moving, andunusual"hidden child" account
Superb. This isa necessary book-painful, harrowing, tragic, but alsouplifting
Fascinating, beautifully written. Van Escarefully salvagesLien's storyand creates adeeply movingandcomplexbook aboutwar, atrocityandhuman suffering
Sensational and gripping. . .shedding light on some of the most urgent issues of our time
Luminous, elegant,haunting - I read it straight through
Deeply moving. Writes with an almostSebaldian simplicity and understatement
Harrowingandbeautiful
Anawe-inspiring accountof thetragedies and triumphswithin the world ofthe Holocaust's "hide-away" children, and of the families who sheltered them
The Cut Out Girlis a reminder of theextraordinary richness of archivesand thetreasures released by scholarly research
An extraordinary story, harrowing, deeply affecting. This fascinating story is guaranteed to haunt you
Amoving story of personal and family history, with a scholar's objective eye for the bigger picture.
Harrowing. . .profoundly moving