Many of the incidents in this story are based on true accounts of courageous Dutch Christians who lived through the Nazi occupation. Ernst Lubbers is based on the real-life musician Max Ehrlich, a popular actor and theater director who staged musical productions while imprisoned in Westerbork. He died in Auschwitz in 1944.

In reading historical accounts of the Dutch experience, I was surprised and amazed to hear secular historians give credit to the church and to people of faith for withstanding the darkness. The Nazis considered the Dutch their Aryan brothers and hoped to incorporate them into the Reich. But Dutch Christians answered to God above all and refused to give in to the Nazis’ evil demands —even at the cost of their lives.

I pray that we’ll never have to endure what Christians in the Netherlands did. But it’s my hope that Chasing Shadows will lead readers to take a closer look at their own faith, as I did after reading The Hiding Place years ago. I remember wanting a faith like Corrie and her family had and like Diet Eman and her fiancé had. I pray that this novel will inspire you to pursue a closer walk with God and lead to a commitment to serve His Kingdom with whatever gifts He has given you.

God bless you all!

Lynn

Acknowledgments

Giving birth to a book has many similarities to giving birth to a child. Each novel begins as a tiny seed of an idea, then slowly develops and grows over time until that joyful and sometimes-painful moment when the new “baby” is finally ready to meet the world. And giving birth to either a baby or a novel is something I could never do alone. I’m grateful for this chance to thank the many, many people who have helped me give birth to Chasing Shadows.

My husband, Ken, is always vitally important in my writing just as he was, of course, with our actual children. He’s my first reader, plowing through my half-finished chapters and unresolved plot ideas and listening to me ramble on and on about what might or might not happen. Ever since that long-ago day when I first said, “I think I want to try writing a book,” Ken has been my most enthusiastic cheerleader. He never stopped believing in me, even when I sometimes stopped believing in myself.

Our son Benjamin, who earned his doctoral degree at Leiden University, was an invaluable help in writing this book, teaching me all about that lovely city and showing me (and my characters) how to get around. We also bicycled out of Leiden into the Dutch countryside one memorable day to where Lena and Pieter’s imaginary farm would be located.