Book Spotlight: Buried Appearances by D.E. Haggerty
Synopsis: Buried Appearances - D.E Haggerty - November 2013
Skylar Dewitt has been
ostracized her entire life due to her grandfather’s well-known
sympathies with the Nazis. But now her grandfather’s body has been
recovered in the Netherlands in an area famous for being a Nazi killing
ground. Why would her grandfather be buried in a place legendary for
assassinations of resistance members? Skylar jets off to Holland in
search of answers about her grandfather’s demise. Along the way she
finds long-lost family and old friends but will she solve the mystery of
what happened to her grandfather? And maybe she discovers something
more valuable than resolving any mystery could be: herself
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18943772-buried-appearances?from_search=true
Excerpt from Buried Appearances
By D.E. Haggerty
After I
hang up the phone, I sit and stare at my computer for a while. I still have no
clue how to carry on. I am completely and utterly stuck. I am at a loose end
and don’t know what to do. I do have one promise, however, that I made to Griet
before I left Michigan that I have to fulfill. I head off to the Wertheim park
to fulfill that promise.
I stand at
the Auschwitz memorial in the park and try to hold back my tears. It is so
breathtakingly sad here. The smashed mirrors dominating this tiny park are
heartbreaking. The memorial epitomizes the dichotomy that is the war and
Holland. On the one hand, I am standing in front of a heart wrenching monument
to the Dutch victims of the Holocaust that died in Auschwitz but in the
background I hear the tram rumble by, dogs barking as they run around the grass
of the park and children playing soccer on the other side of the fence.
The Dutch
continue with their lives as I slowly kneel and place white tulips on the memorial.
I have one tulip for each member of Griet’s family that perished in the camps.
As I stand, I can’t help but let the tears fall. I don’t know how Griet has
survived such sadness, such heartbreak. “Gaat het me u,” I hear behind me.
I run the
back of my arm across my eyes before turning. I don’t want anyone to see my
tears. Tears I normally never let fall. “Sorry,” I start. “Ik spreek geen
Nederlands.” I don’t speak Dutch being one of the few phrases I do speak in
Dutch.
He smiles
gently at me. “I asked if you are okay.”
I try to
smile at him but I’m sure my smile wobbles. “It’s just so sad.” I lamely
comment.
The
stranger nods and looks at my tulips. “Your family?” He asks.
I shake my
head. “No, it’s for Griet.”
“Griet?”
“She’s my
friend or rather Oma’s friend back home.” I explain rather dumbly.
He nods.
“For not speaking Dutch, your pronunciation is good.”
“My dad was
Dutch. Oma emigrated with dad to America after the war.” Why am I telling the
stranger these things? I shrug. “I guess I’m half-Dutch but I grew up in
America. Oma didn’t teach me Dutch. I try to forget I was Dutch or at least I
used to.”
“Why would
you want to forget who you are? Where you came from?” He looks genuinely
interested.
I shrug and
try to act nonchalant. “My family was bad during the war. I got bullied about
it.”
“Bad? What
does that mean?”
“My
grandfather was a NSBer,” I start. “But now I’m here because it looks like he
might have been killed by the Nazis. I’m trying to figure out what happened but
I’m getting nowhere.”
He tilts
his head and stares intensely at me. “Do you want to go get a coffee and tell
me all about it?” His request shocks me. Although the Dutch are nice and
outwardly friendly, I haven’t experienced any instant friendships like in
America.
I look intently
at the man. He is a stranger but it’s broad daylight and for some reason I
don’t feel threatened by him. He looks to be my age, maybe older. He doesn’t
look like a psycho killer but I guess that psycho killers never look like
psycho killers either. This trip is all about taking chances and leaving my
comfort zone so I shrug and hold out my hand. “I’m Skylar.”
He takes my
hand and shakes it firmly but gently. “Nicolaas.”
Thanks for hosting my tour today.
ReplyDelete