Throwback Week! The Borrowed House, by Hilda van Stockum

As many of you know already, I have a dear love for vintage middle grade books. So I decided once a month to do a “throwback” review of a classic/vintage/backlist title that I think deserves a little extra attention. Up first... the WWII historical novel by my beloved Hilda van Stockum: The Borrowed House.

The Borrowed House was van Stockum’s favorite of all her books; I’m not sure she could ever supplant Friendly Gables in that #1 spot for me, but The Borrowed House definitely stands out from the author’s other work. Even though the first Mitchells’ book (The Mitchells: Five for Victory) is set during the Second World War, its American homefront location removes it from much of the immediacy and danger that is ever-present in the Germany/Netherlands setting of The Borrowed House. 

This one...is not for the faint of heart. Don’t get me wrong. I think The Borrowed House is a masterpiece and a brilliant piece of children’s literature. But I was expecting the light-hearted romps of the Mitchells and instead got a story told from the point of view of Janna, a Nazi Youth member who believes all Jews and Slavs are evil and inferior and she herself is the part of the godlike race destined to overcome all obstacles and rule the earth. Janna is interesting and complicated and good-hearted—but she has been trained to think herself superior and above the rules. Right within the first few pages, she lies to her guardian to get out of chores she dislikes, and laughingly explains to a Nazi friend why all Jews deserve to be punished for their evil ways.

AND YET. Hilda van Stockum’s mastery of her craft is fully on display in these first few chapters. Because even as we recoil at Janna’s racist, entitled ways, we witness the indoctrination she has been subjected to. We see the neglect she has suffered, making her more likely to admire the leaders of the Nazi Youth movement, who praise and welcome her. When she reunites with her parents in the second chapter, we see that this complicated nature applies to them as well. Yes, her mother has been a neglectful mother and a less than perfect wife. Yes, her father is somewhat domineering and completely brainwashed by fascist propoganda. But they’re still real people with real hurts and real struggles and real victories. 

This attention to detail in her characters is what makes The Borrowed House stand out. There’s not a single character, down to a random train passenger or an SS guard, who isn’t given another facet of personality for us to see. Some characters are worse upon further inspection. Many are much better. More importantly, throughout the story we are given the chance to see the weaker characters, particularly Janna of course, develop and grow.

Having no foreknowledge of this story, I was completely surprised and enchanted by some of the plot twists (okay, okay, I’m a writer on the look-out for certain twists, so let’s say more honestly that I was somewhat surprised and completely enchanted) I encountered midway through the book. Without spoiling it for all of you with too much detail, Janna meets a member of the Dutch resistance, a teenage boy who is forging documents to help smuggle Jewish people and other “undesirables” out of Holland. Encountering him forces Janna to face her prejudices and assumptions head-on, as he displays the virtues she recognizes as good and true and noble, while the more acceptable German family who shares her home displays qualities she rightly recognizes as reprehensible. 

A lot of people hate the ending of The Borrowed House. Again, no spoilers, but I thought it was perfect. It was a mature ending for a book intended for mature young readers. We’ve already had a good helping of neglect and brainwashing and prejudice and sexual harrassment and, you know, murder. So I could handle the loss of a different sort that Janna suffers at the book’s conclusion. It broke my heart as it broke Janna’s—but hard hearts need to break to make room for the love and goodness they were intended to feel. Losses are needed to make room for true gain, for moving forward in the right direction.
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For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, be sure to check out Always in the Middle!