THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON, by Meg Waite Clayton

Historical Fiction -- 3 1/2 stars



In 1936 Germany, Stephan Neuman, the young son of a prominent Jewish family, and Zofie-Helene, the daughter of a newspaper editor form an unlikely friendship--one that is about to be tested by the continuing rise of Hitler's Nazi party.  Into the story steps an unlikely hero, Truus Wijsmuller, a member of the Dutch resistance, who is determined to save as many Jewish children as possible. ----- Stephan and Zofie-Helene are imagined characters in the true story of Truus Wijsmuller, and well-imagined characters they are--complicated, believable, and sympathetic.  The horrors they experience form a solid background for the work of Ms. Wijsmuller and the efforts of the resistance.  A story of real bravery and sacrifice that somehow manages to be both uplifting and strangely unemotional.