A heartrending novel based on a true story of love, loyalty, and the
limits we confront when our deepest values are tested, by award-winning
writer Buzzy Jackson
How far would you go to protect the people and country you love?
It's 1940 and Hannie Schaft is a shy nineteen-year-old law student
living in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands with ambitious goals for her
future. But dreams die in wartime, and Hannie's closest friends are no
longer safe as fascism insidiously rises in her country. Hiding them is
not enough. Hannie may be young but she can't stand aside as the menace
of Nazi evil tightens its grip. Driven by love and moral outrage, Hannie
soon becomes an armed member of the Dutch Resistance movement.
Hannie discovers her own untapped ferocity--wearing lipstick and heels
to lure powerful Nazis close and assassinate them at point-blank range,
and bombing munitions factories. As humanity collapses around her,
Hannie finds a chosen family of friends within the Resistance and falls
in love with a dashing fellow resister at a tremendous cost. Her
greatest weapon is her determination to "stay human" (blijf menselijk)
. . . a promise increasingly difficult to keep.
As Hannie is drawn deeper into a web of plots, disguises and
assassinations, whispers spread like wildfire among enemy and friend
alike. They all know of her, if not her name: she's "the Girl with Red
Hair." A match for any Nazi soldier. A true threat. And a target.
To Die Beautiful is a timely look at how fascism flourishes and what
good people do to fight back. Based on real events, To Die Beautiful
is told with the drama and emotional resonance of meticulously
researched history.
