Title: Focus on Survival: A young family’s struggle to survive World War II
Author: Julie Bayl
Publisher: 978-1-5035-0220-8
ISBN: XlibrisAU
Pages: 264
Genre: Historical Drama
Reviewed by: Ella Vincent

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Synopsis

A tale of love and hate, war and peace, pain and joy, fear and exhilaration! Based on a true story of survival and intrigue commencing before World War II, the story leads us into the fast-moving changes brought by the Nazi Occupation in Holland. Ben, a successful third-generation photographer prepares to stand against the Establishment. Together with Em, his wife, they show incredible courage and artful deception, playing “cat and mouse” with the Nazis, assisting the Underground with forged passports, utilizing the black market, struggling to provide sustenance for their growing family, and against great odds, succeeding as winners. During the war, they also have the added challenge of coping with two sons born with haemophilia. They learn the pain of losing loved ones, and the compassion it yields, contrastingly the joy that even the simplest things in life can bring. Join in the relief and exuberance that “V-E Day” brings and in the time of peace that follows as their hopes begin to be fulfilled.

About the Author

Julie Bayl, born in 1950, grew up in Sydney, Australia. Upon leaving school, she was torn between a career in architecture or social work, being offered a four-year scholarship for a cadetship with a renowned Sydney architectural firm or another option involving her love for people. She chose missionary work. In 1971 she married Charles Bayl, whose family had emigrated from Holland to Australia in 1953 seeking a better life. She and Charles moved to Cowra, Central New South Wales, in 1974 and later had three children, Anita, Paul and David. They now have two delightful grandsons, Lennon and Banjo. Soon after her marriage to Charles, her mother-in-law Marlene (Em) shared experiences the family had during the Occupation of Holland in World War II, which really intrigued Julie. Sadly in 1972 Ben passed away suddenly. So with Marlene’s approval, she began to write this exciting and heart-warming story about ordinary people doing extraordinary things—a story that needs to be told. Marlene passed away in 1998.

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