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I guess I'm just used to listening to and reading Holocaust memoirs, where everything is more personal and first person, causing the listener/reader to really feel what the narrator went through, because this book, while interesting, fell flat on occasion. India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who’ll accept her – an enigmatic and mysterious man from America. A man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he’s ill. Mr. Loftis has greatly enriched the ten Boom story with well-researched additional material . . . Corrie ten Boom’s indomitable faith in the face of evil was extraordinary, and The Watchmaker’s Daughter recounts a story that deserves to be remembered." — Wall Street Journal Her life was such a shining testimony of the power the Lord has through a child of His in full surrender. As Corrie herself came to realize several years after she was released from the concentration camp and the war was over, forgiveness to those who put her through that “hell on earth” -as the concentration camp was referred to- and wronged her in countless ways took the power of God to not hang on to bitterness and hate. Because I had lived so close to death,” Corrie remembered, “looking it in the face day after day, I often felt like a stranger among my own people—many of whom looked upon money, honor of men, and success as the important issues of life. Standing in front of a crematorium, knowing that any day could be your day, gives one a different perspective.”
Astounding ... An intimate, detailed portrait ... The extraordinary bravery of Corrie ten Boom is eclipsed only by her ability to find faith and hope in utter darkness. Perfect for readers of biography and history." — Booklist The deserved success of Anne’s diary often overshadows other accounts of Dutch bravery during the Nazi occupation. One woman who saved lives and gave hope to hundreds of Dutch anti-Nazis, then demonstrated extraordinary compassion toward Nazi collaborators after the war, was Corrie ten Boom, a modest single woman in her late 40s when the Ninth Panzer Division marched into Holland in May 1940. Now Larry Loftis, a former corporate attorney who has written three World War II nonfiction spy thrillers, shines a spotlight on ten Boom with “The Watchmaker’s Daughter.” I also didn't feel any of the urgency when describing Corrie's time in the various prisons and the concentration camp that she was in. It didn't have that immediacy that something of that magnitude should have felt like. I really liked the added details and information that the author made available in this wonderful book. He did an excellent job. However, he had an amazing Lady to write about.The Watchmaker's Daughter is a very well-researched, well-written, and thorough portrait of a woman who was a hero. There is included at the end of the book a section called "The Rest of the Story,” which covers the accomplishments of those central to the overall Dutch World War II story and includes picture. There is also an Appendix on refugees who stayed with the ten Booms, Bibliography, Notes, and Index. I must have been 13 years old when I first read about Corrie Ten Boom in her amazing book, “The Hiding Place”. I grew up in a family who bought few books but, read incessantly from those in our library. However, my Mom had heard her speak and bought this book. It was kind of odd how Anne Frank, her family and Audrey Hepburn's experiences were brought up in the book with no real connection to Corrie and her family's story. And the other stories were brought up only a few times, leading me to feel that it was just filler and didn't really tie into the story being told.
The biographical facts are overall correct as far as I could see, and the new bits that aren't in Corrie's own memoirs ( The Hiding Place, to which this can be read as a complementary book) as well as the photographs are much appreciated, but this biography suffers a lot from the terribly disorganised and choppy writing. It needed better editing, and to polish the phrasing that is awkward and repetitive in so many places that this isn't quite a smooth read because of that. New York Times bestselling author and master of nonfiction spy thrillers Larry Loftis writes the first major biography of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch watchmaker who saved the lives of hundreds of Jews during WWII—at the cost of losing her family and being sent to a concentration camp, only to survive, forgive her captors, and live the rest of her life as a Christian missionary.Now, I unfortunately know much more about not only The Holocaust but, about Holocaust deniers and the irrational hatred of Jews. At this time in history, antisemitism has raised its ugly head higher than usual. Like a skilled archaeologist, Larry unearths little-known fragments of Corrie Ten Boom’s story. By mining everything from historical records to family mementos, he’s exposed fresh facets of Corrie’s remarkable ministry. If you loved The Hiding Place, read this book!" — Jim Daly, President, Focus on the Family
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