Under the Java Moon ~ Review

Under the Java Moon

By Heather B. Moore

Under the Java Moon is a brilliantly written piece of historical fiction. There are moments of beauty found amongst the horrors of war and this book spotlights this by focusing on the struggles of one family's will to survive. 

War seemed a thing unlikely to touch their daily lives. It was far away in Europe until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Then, it became a concern. Then, the people of the Dutch East Indies began to prepare. But air raid drills and bomb shelters were no match to the forces determined to control the Pacific.

And when the Allie Forces suffered a severe loss, they knew they were next. Europeans were rounded up and put in camps. Families were torn apart. The Javanese were required to work with the Japanese or face a similar fate to those who had just days ago been in power. And so we are pulled into the story of the Vischer family. We see the war through the eyes of six-year-old Rita and her parents, Mary and George. Each sees the war differently, but each suffers under its cruelty while holding onto the hope of one more day and maybe seeing those torn away returned. But war exacts a cost no matter how long it lasts, and Under the Java Moon shares Rita Vischer's story and the price she paid. 

I would recommend this to those readers who inhale everything and anything dealing with WW2. There are not an overabundance of books dealing with this particular aspect of the war, and though it deals with difficult aspects and scenes, it is all handled and presented in a considerate and respectful manner. And the author's introduction and the afterword by Rita are a must-read. 

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.

About the Book:

Based on a true story, this gripping WWII novel captures the resilience, hope, and courage of a Dutch family who is separated during the war when the Japanese occupy the Dutch East Indies.

Java Island, 1941

Six-year-old Rita Vischer cowers in her family’s dug-out bomb shelter, listening to the sirens and waiting for a bomb to fall. Her charmed life on Java—living with other Dutch families—had always been peaceful, but when Holland declares war on Japan and the Japanese army invades Indonesia, Rita’s family is forced to relocate to a POW camp, and Rita must help care for her little brother, Georgie.

Mary Vischer is three months pregnant when she enters the Tjident women’s camp with thousands of other women and children. Her husband, George, is somewhere on the Java Sea with the Dutch Navy, so she must care alone for her young children, Rita and Georgie, and her frail mother. The brutal conditions of the overcrowded camp make starvation, malaria, and dysentery a grim reality. Mary must do everything she can to keep her family alive.

George Vischer survives the bombing of his minesweeper but feels little hope floating on a small dinghy in the Java Sea. Reaching the northern tip of the Thousand Island would be a miracle. Focusing on the love of his life, Mary, and his two children, he battles against the sea and merciless sun. He’ll do whatever it takes to close the divide between him and his family, even if it means risking being captured by the Japanese.

Under the Java Moon highlights a little-known part of WWII history and the impact of war on Indonesia, its people, and the more than 100,000 Dutch men, women, and children who were funneled into prison camps and faced with the ultimate fight for survival.