A Hatred for Tulips
A Novel
Richard Lourie
- "People
- who
- don't
- have
- secrets
- imagine
- them
- as
- dark
- and
- hidden.
- It's
- just
- the
- opposite.
- Secrets
- are
- bright.
- They
- light
- you
- up.
- Like
- the
- bare
- lightbulb
- left
- on
- in
- a
- cell
- day
- and
- night,
- they
- give
- you
- no
- rest."
So
- thinks
- Joop,
- the
- narrator
- of
- this
- brief
- and
- bitter
- tale,
- whose
- secret
- is
- like
- no
- other.
- He
- has
- kept
- that
- secret
- for
- more
- than
- sixty
- years,
- but
- now
- his
- brother---whom
- he
- has
- not
- seen
- since
- the
- end
- of
- the
- war---has
- suddenly
- shown
- up
- at
- his
- door.
Having
- grown
- up
- in
- North
- America
- with
- only
- the
- vaguest
- memories
- of
- World
- War
- II,
- Joop's
- brother
- has
- returned
- to
- Amsterdam
- to
- find
- out
- what
- his
- childhood
- in
- Holland
- had
- been
- like.
- But
- what
- he
- discovers
- is
- much
- more
- than
- he
- bargained
- for---he
- is
- startled
- and
- dismayed
- to
- learn
- of
- his
- own
- role
- in
- the
- betrayal
- of
- Anne
- Frank.
Transporting
- readers
- through
- the
- agonizing
- Nazi
- takeover
- of
- World
- War
- II,
- Joop
- recounts
- his
- role
- as
- a
- boy
- desiring
- to
- feed
- his
- starving
- family.
- He
- figures
- out
- a
- way
- to
- provide
- for
- them,
- but
- in
- doing
- so,
- he
- sets
- in
- motion
- a
- chain
- of
- events
- that
- will
- horrify
- the
- entire
- world.
Just
- as
- he
- did
- in
- the
- internationally
- acclaimed
- The
- Autobiography
- of
- Joseph
- Stalin,
- here
- Richard
- Lourie
- takes
- us
- into
- not
- only
- a
- person's
- mind,
- a
- time,
- and
- a
- place,
- but
- into
- the
- treacherous
- currents
- of
- history
- that
- sweep
- lives
- away.
- This
- gripping
- fictionalized
- account
- of
- the
- man
- who
- betrayed
- Anne
- Frank
- will
- not
- soon
- be forgotten.
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