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The Cut Out Girl by Bart van Es
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The Cut Out Girl

A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found: The Costa Book of the Year 2018
Due to publisher restrictions, this audiobook is unavailable for purchase in your selected country.
Narrator Bart van Es

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Length 8 hours 48 minutes
Language English
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*** WINNER OF THE COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018 ***

WINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2018

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Cut Out Girl written and read by Bart van Es.


'A masterpiece of history and memoir' Evening Standard

'Superb. This is a necessary book - painful, harrowing, tragic, but also uplifting' The Times

Little Lien wasn't taken from her Jewish parents - she was given away in the hope that she might be saved. Hidden and raised by a foster family in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation, she survived the war only to find that her real parents had not. Much later, she fell out with her foster family, and Bart van Es - the grandson of Lien's foster parents - knew he needed to find out why.

His account of tracing Lien and telling her story is a searing exploration of two lives and two families. It is a story about love and misunderstanding and about the ways that our most painful experiences - so crucial in defining us - can also be redefined.

'Luminous, elegant, haunting - I read it straight through' Philippe Sands, author of East West Street

'Deeply moving. Writes with an almost Sebaldian simplicity and understatement' Guardian

'Remarkable, deeply moving' Penelope Lively

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. He has published three books, including, most recently, A Very Short Introduction to Shakespeare's Comedies.

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. He has published three books, including, most recently, A Very Short Introduction to Shakespeare's Comedies.

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Phone showing make the switch message

Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Nowโ€™s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, weโ€™ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

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Reviews

Astonishing. Van Es has created a masterpiece of history and memoir, concluding on a note of reconciliation, hope and great love An extraordinary, harrowing story of loss, survival and love Deeply moving, this is a remarkable memoir Powerful . . . extraordinary Brought to life with family photographs and diary entries that add further impact to Lien's harrowing memories and testimony - this deeply affecting and fascinating story is guaranteed to haunt you Remarkable - the story of one traumatic childhood, deeply moving, and told with great dexterity, allowing the wisdoms of today to run parallel with the absorbing narrative of wartime events Compassionate and thoughtfully rendered, the book is both a memorable portrait of a remarkable woman and a testament to the healing power of understanding. A complex and uplifting tale A nuanced, moving, and unusual "hidden child" account Superb. This is a necessary book - painful, harrowing, tragic, but also uplifting Fascinating, beautifully written. Van Es carefully salvages Lien's story and creates a deeply moving and complex book about war, atrocity and human 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 almost Sebaldian simplicity and understatement Harrowing and beautiful An awe-inspiring account of the tragedies and triumphs within the world of the Holocaust's "hide-away" children, and of the families who sheltered them The Cut Out Girl is a reminder of the extraordinary richness of archives and the treasures released by scholarly research An extraordinary story, harrowing, deeply affecting. This fascinating story is guaranteed to haunt you A moving story of personal and family history, with a scholar's objective eye for the bigger picture. Harrowing . . . profoundly moving Expand reviews
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