Harvest of War

Harvest of War: A Flemish Novel drops the reader into the German-occupied town of Ramsel, Belgium, during the summer of 1944. The town's doctor, Bruno Van Dam, cares for all who are sick or injured, whether they be Resistance fighters, collaborators, or the members of the quiet multitude just trying to survive. In secret-and simultaneously-Dr. Van Dam hides from the German military a Jewish orphan and two British pilots. Circumstances then take a turn for the worse. Dr. Van Dam's son, Eric, is swept up by the German military and forcibly transported to Germany and its work camps. He faces the prospects of atrocious treatment and starvation. Diagnosing the situation and mapping out a plan, the doctor sets up an indirect line of communications for offering a bribe to the leader of Ramsel's German occupying force. Then, as the Allies liberate the town, residents celebrate. But Dr. Van Dam faces accusations for his paternally motivated actions during the war. All who find themselves drawn to historical novels or stories about the unflagging efforts of individuals to face up to power as they seek to protect and preserve their loved ones will discover in the pages of Harvest of War: A Flemish Novel a story that satisfies.