The Boat Runner

National Bestseller In the tradition of All The Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale,comes an incandescent debut novel about a young Dutch man who comes of age during the perilousness of World War II. Beginning in the summer of 1939fourteen-year-old Jacob Koopman and his older brotherEdwinenjoy lives of prosperity and quiet contentment. Many of the residents in their small Dutch town have some connection to the Koopman lightbulb factoryand the locals hold the family in high esteem. On days when they arenΓÇÖt playing with friendsJacob and Edwin help their Uncle Martin on his fishing boat in the North Seawhere German ships have become a common sight. But conflict still seems unthinkableeven as the boysΓÇÖ father naively sends his sons to a Hitler Youth Camp in an effort to secure German business for the factory. When war breaks outJacobΓÇÖs world is thrown into chaos. The Boat Runner follows Jacob over the course of four yearsthrough the forests of Francethe stormy beaches of Englandand deep within the secret missions of the German Navywhere he is confronted with the moral dilemma that will change his lifeΓÇöand his lifeΓÇÖs missionΓÇöforever. Epic in scope and featuring a thrilling narrative with preciseelegant languageThe Boat Runner tells the little-known story of the young Dutch boys who were thrown into the Nazi campaignas well as the brave boatmen who risked everything to give Jewish refugees safe passage to land abroad. Through one boyΓÇÖs harrowing tale of personal redemptionhere is a novel about the power of peopleΓÇÖs stories and voices to shine light through our darkest daysuntil only love prevails.