Thariena

Information

First published in 1943.

My copy had 110 pages and is published by Meulenhoff (a Dutch company).

The premise

"The Moon Is Down" explores the effects of invasion on both the conquered and the conquerors. Occupied by enemy troops, a small, peaceful town comes face-to-face with evil imposed from the outside and betrayal from within the close-knit community. As he delves into the motivations and emotions of the enemy.

My review

When I picked this book up I didn't know what it was about. I have an old library copy, with nothing but the name of the author and the title on front and back of the book. But it was a book by John Steinbeck, an author I wanted to read and it cost €0,50. 

When I looked it up I read that it was about the second world war and that's a genre I don't read very often. But the premise seemed quite interesting and it's a short book.

One of the main things that I liked about this book, is that it gives you insight in both the conquered and the conquerors. And that's not something I've seen very often. 

The characters are the driving force of the book, it's all about what they think of themselves, each other and how and why they act like they do.

For such a short book there are quite a few characters and in the beginning it was a bit overwhelming, especially all the different soldiers. But I recommend reading closely, because the backgrounds of the soldiers really add to the story.

I thought it was well written and from the first few pages there are some very clear opinions about the war and the people involved.