Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout
Title: Song of a Blackbird
Author: Maria van Lieshout
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Published: 4th March 2025
Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Price: $26.99
Synopsis: Fictionalised but based on true events, Song of a Blackbird has two intertwined timelines: one is a modern-day family drama, the other a thrilling true story of a WWII-era bank heist carried out by Dutch Resistance fighters.
‘So heart-rending and familiar, and so brilliantly, unforgettably different.’
– Morris Gleitzman, bestselling author of Once
Emma is a young student about to be drawn into what will become the biggest bank heist in European history: swapping 50 million guilders’ worth of forged treasury bonds for real ones – right under the noses of the Nazis. Emma’s life – and the lives of thousands, including a little girl named Hanna – hangs in the balance.
Almost seventy years later, Annick discovers something surprising about her family. Her grandmother needs a bone marrow donor but none of her relatives is a match. In fact, they are not even related. Desperate to find a living blood relative, Annick dives into the past, aided by her grandmother’s only childhood possession, five copper etchings, and the name of their maker: Emma Bergsma.
In this stranger-than-fiction graphic novel, Maria van Lieshout weaves a tale about family, courage and the power of art. Deeply personal yet universal, Song of a Blackbird sheds light on a remarkable WWII story and sends a powerful message about compassion and resistance.
~*~
Annick and Emma live in Amsterdam, but in very different times. Emma lives there during World War II and the Nazi occupation as a young student drawn into the Resistance – forging ration coupons, helping smuggle things to and from people working to overthrow the Nazis, and watching as the Nazis take over everything. As Jewish people disappear, and as children are smuggled into hiding and foster families to keep them safe from the camps. Nearly 70 years later, Annick lives with her grandmother, who has cancer and is eager to find answers to a past she can’t remember, linked to a series of prints of buildings in Amsterdam. These prints are by a person called Emma Bergsma – and they will lead Emma on a journey to find out the truth about her family and uncover secrets about why nobody in their family is a bone marrow match.
Annick’s grandmother’s story is a fictionalised story of real events and people, amalgamated into the characters, or linked to the author and her family. There are many World War II stories, and Resistance stories take many shapes and forms. In this graphic novel, archival photos of the places in the novel where the Resistance worked and did what they could, mixed in the white, grey, red, and black illustrations by the author. In the World War II sections, the only red is on Emma’s jacket – the one glimpse of hope in the dark days of the occupation, leading up to a bank heist. Emma is doing this for the thousands of lives that hang in the balance, including hers and the life of a young girl, Hanna.
Everything in this story is touched with a sense of poignancy as it introduces readers to the Resistance in Amsterdam, or builds on the stories and knowledge that they already know. With so many stories around, digging deeper into the history of World War II to bring more stories to life shows how much these events impacted people. The stories of the Resistance and the people at home are as important as the battles. These are the stories that I think hold a deeper meaning, because so many people were involved, and we often don’t know the names of the people behind it. They show that the war had a broader impact than what might be told much of the time. It’s as though you can feel the hunger and worry leap off the page. Feel the anxiety and danger the characters find themselves in. The relentless sense that something is going to eventually go wrong with a bittersweet touch in the story of Annick finding the answers to the questions her grandmother has.
It’s a family story that stretches deep into history and trauma, tackling the war and the Resistance evocatively. It’s a familiar story but also different – the things the characters do, the way they act reverberate in different ways whilst still having the horrific stories we all know so much about lingering in the background. This has deeper meaning when you read the author notes and the research that went into this story beyond the family stories that gives this a gravitas that shows the power of art as an act of resistance. How art can bring what people are fighting for to life. Using art is important in this book – the skills Emma has are used for important means, for things that she never thought she would do. Most importantly, this is a book that much like Morris Gleitzman’s Once series, it stays with you. It leaves an impression – the story, the characters, and the history. Especially when you read it knowing how things turned out and what could happen to people in the Resistance. It brings people together as well.
Novels like this remind us of what can be done in times of adversity and war, when things are wrong, and when we know things need to change. Art is resistance, and art is an act of rebellion because whatever is created can send a message that reminds people that humanity is still out there and that people will fight to save it.