Award Winning Finalist in the Fiction: Historical category of the
International Book Awards
When the Germans invade Belgium in 1940, chemistry professor André
Severin fears the worst. His colleagues believe their social and
political positions will protect them during the occupation, but André
knows better. He has watched Hitler's rise to power and knows the Nazis
will do anything to destroy their enemies. For the Severins are Jews,
non-practicing, yes, but that won't matter to the Germans--or to the
Belgians desperate to protect themselves by informing on their
neighbors. And so André and his brother Alin take their parents, wives,
and children and flee south. But when France falls to the Nazis, the
refugees are caught in a rural farming community where their only hope
for survival is to blend in with the locals. Fortunately, the Severins
have come to Huguenot country, settled by victims of religious
persecution who risk their own lives to protect the Jewish refugees and
defy the pro-Nazi government. And as the displaced family grows to love
their new neighbors, André and Alin join forces with the French
Resistance to help protect them. Based on one family's harrowing true
story of survival, In This Hospitable Land is an inspirational novel
about courage and the search for home in the midst of chaos.
