Boek

Anna Woltz

De tunnel

A captivating wartime novel in which style, plot, action and psychological depth are in perfect balance

In striking images and evocative language, Anna Woltz writes from a young person’s perspective to tell an exciting and empathetic wartime story that is set in London during the Blitz – with the London Underground as a backdrop, a plot that is driven by the urge for freedom and independence, and friendship, love and courage as universal themes.

It is September 1940. The constant nightly bombing by the Luftwaffe has set London ablaze. The city is in chaos. Together with polio survivor Ella (14), you see how ‘every evening the sun seems to set on the wrong side’ and ‘the eastern sky glows a fiery orange’. You smell what is happening as the port and warehouses go up in flames, and you can feel the threat of the unexploded bombs. ‘The world seems to be made of glass. One wrong movement and everything will collapse,’ says Ella, already literally and figuratively thrown off balance by her polio-damaged leg. At night, she hides out in the Underground with her brother Robbie, in a deep tunnel. They are joined by the opportunistic street kid Jay, and later by the free-spirited Quin, who has fled her aristocratic existence, and her brother Sebastian. Their common fate proves stronger than their apparent class differences, and a tentative friendship grows between them, one that will define their lives.

The threat of war and the claustrophobic conditions underground cleverly take on a double meaning when it turns out that, as a polio patient, Ella had to lie in a tunnel-shaped breathing machine in order to survive. ‘Breathing isn’t something you can practise,’ she says. ‘There is no shallow water, no summer’s day without Messerschmitts. If you get it wrong, you’re a goner.’ The prologue already reveals that one of the friends will die – but which one will it be?

The war gets the adrenaline pumping and makes Ella unexpectedly courageous. The air-raid siren howls ominously, but ever since she tore up her storybook full of adolescent ‘foolish hot-air balloons’ and Quinn taught her that ‘the world is bigger than our parents think’, she no longer wants to wait passively. She may have a limp, but she can choose: ‘I want to know what’s coming next. And soon. And tomorrow.’ The adventure that follows leaves an indelible impression.

Energetic language, true-to-life characters, gripping scenes and blunt but beautiful insights into self-determination.

Trouw

Woltz does not spare her characters, which results in an honest and above all multifaceted portrait of the Second World War and its devastating impact on the lives of ordinary young people.

Tzum

Exciting, realistic, at times heartrending, but also funny, romantic and bursting with beautiful little phrases.

Algemeen Dagblad

Vertalingen

Anna Woltz

Anna Woltz (b. 1981) has written twenty-five books for young readers. Some of her books are adventurous stories for ten-year-olds, others are challenging young adult novels. Her books have been translated into twenty-three languages and have won many prizes. Woltz’s books are loved by both…

lees meer

Details

De tunnel (2021). Kinder- en jeugdboeken, 231 pagina's.

Age: 12+

Uitgeverij

Querido Kind

Weteringschans 259
1017 XJ Amsterdam
Nederland
Tel: +31 (0)20 760 72 10

E-mail:
l.van.der.leije@singeluitgeve…
Website:
https://www.singeluitgeverije…

lees meer