THE OWL IN THE WINDOW

When a group of artists fight back against the Nazis, a music loving Gestapo officer makes it his mission to hunt them down.

Frieda Belinfante is the first female conductor of a professional orchestra in Europe. Openly lesbian and the daughter of a Jewish man, she refuses to work for the Nazis. Together with her artist friends; Willem Arondeus, Gerrit van der Veen, and Gerrit’s lover and ballet dancer Suzy van Hall, they plan and undertake an act of extraordinary braveness by bombing Amsterdam’s Population Register.

Arno Wolff, a charismatic and music loving Gestapo chief leads the hunt for the perpetrators. He is a family man who undertakes heinous acts whilst still believing himself to be, at his core, a good man. Betrayals, executions, treacherous journeys across Europe, and the horror of Dachau follow in the wake of his determination to apprehend and punish the artists. 

Watch Andy and his wife, Sarah retracing the steps of Willem, Frieda, Gerrit and Suzy in Amsterdam

What my beta readers say:

I just loved this book from start to finish. It seemed gauged just right, easy to read, but intelligent and interesting, and your writing just flows. I cried a lot!’

Slide 2

This morning I picked up my Kindle but found no enthusiasm for it after reading In That Moment We Triumphed. That’s a good book, when you find it hard to be replaced by something else.

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Slide 3

I read extensively in all genres and this is one of the best I have ever read. I had to stop reading at [SPOILER], I was choking back tears. I cried at the end having read a marvelous piece of writing that deserves to be read by many.

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Slide 4

I have been listening to the Leningrad symphony as a result of reading your story and I felt emotional and found myself thinking of your characters. They felt real.

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Slide 5

I must commend you on your research and the sheer amount of detail you have gone into. The accuracy on concerts is staggering and fantastic.

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Slide 6

The structure, alternating timelines as well as the locations works really well. I care about the characters, who are finely-drawn and sympathetic. Your depictions of orchestral life are spot-on and there are moments of gentle pathos.

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Slide 7

I felt connected to all the characters – a good job balancing background details and maintaining the narrative plot.

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Slide 8

I love the musical allusions and interludes throughout the novel. These make it very unusual and, for a non-musician, revealing. I long to actually listen to the
passages described,
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Slide 9

It was SO good! I’d found the idea of a story about the 2 orchestras captured me anyway , but you did an excellent job of describing scenes, characters etc making the reader feel they were actually witnessing what was happening. I felt I learned a lot too as I knew nothing about what had gone on musically at this time.
 
I liked the pace, not slowing down in the middle, keeping me gripped at all times
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Slide 10

Awesome, masterful, detailed, gripping. I don’t mind admitting, I read the last 10 or so pages with a bit of dust in my eyes.

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Slide 11

I don’t know if you are like me, but if I binge watch a series, then I get a depression as I’ve lost connection to the story. I have that feeling now.

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If you love historical fiction, can read an 80,000 – 90,000 word book within a month and feel you can offer opinions on character arc, pacing, and help to spot plot inconsistencies, I’d love to hear from you.