“The Lioness of Leiden” is a historical fiction book by Robert Loewen, based upon his mother-in-law’s WWII covert activities. In the beginning this book seems to be about three young women, all working for the Dutch Resistance, but as the story progresses it focuses more on Hetty. Hetty must’ve been an amazing woman to know with her patriotism, resilience, and passion on the pages. It’s also obvious that Mr. Loewen did research into that time period and location. For me, the book began a bit slowly, but rather quickly (around the 20% mark), the story found its groove and flowed a lot more smoothly. My one wish was that a timeline of some sort was included - at one point I couldn’t figure out if days, weeks, or months had passed (turned out to be about five months) between two incidents. A very interesting book.

A very quick read (280 pages), but it has left me breathless!!! I was again amazed at the courage (and often recklessness!) shown by Hettie and her fellow resisters. Experiencing constant fear, sleepless nights they all felt hatred towards the Nazis, while always pushing forward to save their country! They never experienced one moment without stress, and this is what I felt reading this book! Knowing that this novel is based on the author's mother-in-law's own experience as a resister makes this novel even more powerful!
I received a complimentary ARC of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.

A look into the Dutch resistance in WWII inspired by the author's mother-in-law. Lots of information to be learned and an excellent storyline as well.
Would young girls be resistance fighters these days? Well, could you get them off TIkTok or them trying to be an "influencer"? NO.
...that makes this even more resounding.

#shortbutsweetreviews