*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity..
Caution - This review does contain spoilers.
Title: Dutch Courage
Author: Martin Parsons
Genre: Historical Fiction
Trigger warnings: War, Violence, Antisemitism, Cheating/Adultery
Rating: ★★
To preface my review, I want to state that the idea of a British spy, a German spy and members of the Dutch resistance living under one roof is a really interesting concept and it is what initially drew me to the book. But unfortunately, I was incredibly disappointed for a number of reasons and Dutch Courage really just missed the mark for me completely.
One of my main takeaways from reading Dutch Courage was how implausible
some of the plotlines were. I felt that the portrayals of both the Dutch resistance
and those working for British intelligence didn’t do them justice and recognise
how clever, meticulously planned and well thought out much of the work they did
actually was. Simple details such as them keeping documents written in English
in the wallets they carried whilst undercover and one of the Dutch resistance suddenly
deciding to don a German military uniform and stroll into the office of a high-ranking
Nazi with fake papers and a bottle of poison, seemed completely unbelievable. They’d
also never stand in the streets of Amsterdam loudly declaring all of the events
and Nazi deaths they were responsible for, knowing full well that anyone could
be in earshot. And don’t even get me started on the use of a British spy using
the name Gary whilst undercover because that was completely laughable. Although
the name may be of Germanic origin, this variant of the name is blatantly English
and would only be chosen by an Allied spy with a certain death wish.
Despite having high hopes for the interesting dynamic that a
British spy (Gary) and a German spy (Eva) living under the same roof could
bring, I was bitterly disappointed with how their relationship actually played
out. The scene where (a mere 24 hours and one short conversation after meeting)
they declare they both know they’re both spies for different sides and instead
of arresting or even killing the other person they choose to partake in a bit
French kissing before Eva swaps to the Allied side, physically made me laugh
aloud. I felt there were so many interesting paths this relationship could have
gone down, including the potential for Eva to become a double agent under the
guise of a relationship with Gary before betraying him for the Nazi cause, but
unfortunately the chosen path was disappointing to say the least.
I did appreciate the plot point of the Nazi General secretly
supporting and aiding the work of the Dutch Resistance and British spies as it
tied up some previously blatant plot holes, including the General seeing a
photo of man he believed to be Dutch dressed in German military uniform and not
batting an eyelid. However, I found it made everything much too easy for the
characters and made the novel lack the grit I crave from a historical fiction novel
set in Nazi occupied Europe. Every potential mistake they made or problem they
ran into was conveniently fixed by the General at the drop of the hat and it
made some potentially exciting moments in the novel, such as them being caught red-handed
trying to break a member of the Dutch resistance out of a Prisoner of War camp
or one of them being tortured in the Gestapo HQ for blowing up a train, significantly
less impactful. I would have much preferred this get out of jail free card to have
been used sparingly to still ensure we got some of the drama these plot points
deserved.
If you’re a fan of a historical romance, the second half of
Dutch Courage takes more of a romantic turn and focuses more on the
relationships between different characters, both within the group of protagonists
and the relationships between them and some of the prominent Nazis in the
story. Although it is worth noting that there is nothing simplistic about these
romances and most of them are more sexual than particularly romantic so don’t
expect something simple and corny. What starts as a love triangle between Eva (the
German turned Allied spy), Gary (the British spy) and the Nazi General, ended
up as a rather ridiculous love hexagon, with the addition of a member of the
Gestapo, a female German spy and some of the Dutch resistance. Although I’m normally
quite partial to a bit of romance in historical fiction, in this case there
were so many people involved that it became very difficult to keep up with who had
slept with who, particularly as some of the sexual encounters took place
following very little interaction between participants. I also found it very implausible
that both the British spy and the Dutch resistance solder would allow themselves
to be seduced by a woman who they know to be a German spy who seduces men and
extracts information from them before killing them.
A further aspect of the novel I struggled with was the fact
that none of the characters were particularly likeable at all. I wanted to be
firmly supportive of these resistance members and spies as they were all
working to bring down the Nazi regime but they were written in a way which made
them different to like and therefore difficult to root for. One of the biggest
reasons why I personally found them to be unlikeable was their attitudes to adultery.
I do want to put a trigger warning of cheating/adultery in my review of this
novel as it is not only present but also a predominant aspect of the plot. I’ll
hold my hands up and admit that I struggle massively with any tropes relating
to adultery therefore this aspect of the plot really pushed my buttons. It’s
established in the first page that Jakob, the shopkeeper who the other
characters end up lodging with and therefore starts working for the resistance,
is having an affair with his younger assistant Angelina. Jakob is portrayed
sympathetically from the outset and the descriptions of the two women – Jakob’s
wife Rini and his mistress Angelina – are written to intentionally completely juxtapose
each other. Angelina is written as young, beautiful and slim and Rini is
written as older, plain and of “plump build”. Jakob practically flaunts his
affair throughout the novel, even having sex with his mistress when his wife is
in the next room, and the other characters are hardly any better as they all
not only know about the affair but also condone it. Despite being the victim in
this scenario, Rini is portrayed throughout the novel as the antagonist and she
is described in horrendous ways by some of the characters such as a “battle-axe”
and as “playing the victim” when she shows emotion at the discovery of her
husband’s affair. The blatant collective victim blaming and sympathetic
treatment of the adulterer was incredibly frustrating and further cemented the
fact that none of the characters were likeable.
The one positive we got from the affair plot was the introduction
of the woman scorned trope through Rini becoming vengeful upon discovery of the
affair between Jakob and Angelina and this could have been a really interesting
plot point which added significant drama to a book which was becoming quite dry
and too easy for my liking. She not only crashed their wedding but also shopped
them to a German spy in the process who arrived armed and ready to arrest or even
kill them all for being part of the resistance and/or Allied spies. It was a
total power move, despite the obviously ethical dilemma of Rini working for the
Nazis over the Allies, but was stopped in its tracks by the General again
stepping in to ‘save the day’. He simply shipped her off to a concentration camp
as soon as they asked (and I’m yet to decide if I think that was a
proportionate response or not) and she was never mentioned again for the rest of
the novel.
I did find myself craving more from this book as it seemed to
end prematurely. Although the various plot points were all tied up by the end
(albeit more neatly than I would have liked), the novel ended in 1941.The characters
were celebrating a happy ending despite there still being four years left of
the war and therefore four years left of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
Whilst I appreciate that the characters would have had no way of knowing how
long the war would go on for, it seemed strange that they would be celebrating a
happy ending despite knowing that the Nazi’s still had control of most of
western Europe and therefore any potential end to the war was far off.
I did note a few historical inaccuracies within this novel,
particularly the inclusion of an escape from Nazi occupied Holland in a two-seater
Supermarine Spitfire (clearly the most inconspicuous of vehicles for a man
wanted by the Gestapo to flee in but that’s another point entirely). Two-seater
Spitfires did not even have their first handling trials until 1946, one year
after the end of the war, so the idea of them being used in 1941 was completely
implausible.
It was partially my recognition of this inaccuracy that made
me question if I, as someone who is well versed in historical fiction and the
history of the Western front during the Second World War, was the correct
audience for the novel. I felt that someone with less familiarity with the time
period, who would therefore not be as inclined to notice the historical inaccuracies
and implausibility of some plot lines, may take more enjoyment from reading Dutch
Courage and enjoy it for what it is, a work of pure fiction set in a historical
time period rather than the well-researched, dramatic and high-intensity storytelling
we get from other works within the genre.