The tale of a young Dutchman who suffered under the Nazi occupation and who after the war is over finds himself in Indonesia is poignant and sad. Sam Vandenberg feels confused being part of the Dutch military forces as he feels that at certain moment he does not differ that much from the German oppressors. Finding love helps him find his way home in a way and remain sane.
This novel is brilliant!

This is a magnificent work of fiction. It's an epic story that examines war and occupation, loyalty, and history. It's a very broad story and is beautifully written. I did feel my attention drift quite often but that is probably because I am not the biggest fan of war stories. I did enjoy the novel a lot as a whole.

I feel like I’m being hard on reviews but I just couldn’t get into this. The description was interesting and definitely drew me in but I wasn’t far in when I had to stop reading.

The book portrays two timelines for the same character. Sam as a teenager when the Nazi occupied Holland and as a 20-year old when Holland tried to squash rebellion in its colony in Indonesia. I didn’t understand why one timeline was written in first person and the other in third person.
The story looks at ethics and morality in the face of impossible situations, first when Sam and his family face atrocities and later when the tables are turned and he is imposing them. It provides an interesting juxtaposition and is thus thought-provoking.

"It's why history is important to us. Mengeti-the writing of history. Not your kind of history. Not dead, like a story from the past. But living, history a kind of prophesy, a way into the future we want."

Fiction: 5/5
Historical Fiction: 4.5/5

Overall: 4.75/5

Blurb: 'War, What is it Good for?' asks Sam, a Dutch soldier fighting in Indonesian Independence War 1945-49. Sam was once the civilian, the captive and witnessed the brutality of occupying forces of Nazi Regime, later became a mere soldier for the Dutch Army 'liberating' the locals of the 'rebel' forces. But was it all really what he thought it is? Who were the army helping by raiding the villages and interrogating civilians as if they were war criminals? Can Sam maintains the loyalties he once pledged even if it means sacrificing his humanity? Read this novel to follow the inner turmoil of a soldier penned down beautifully by Anne Lazurko.

Strength: Intriguing story line and deep characters with whom you feel familiar at once; Darma, Andre, Amir, Sari, Leo, Raj, Taufik. The Novel uses Diary-entry format making readers feel intimate with the story of younger Sam and the atrocities he faced in the hands of Nazi.

Weakness: Some major historical events were left out, perhaps in a bid to not risk misrepresenting them. Nevertheless the story makes up for it, and instead of following major events, focuses on small personal ones. The Novel also tries to give a fair representation to every side which might not sit well with some readers.

Why to Read: If you are a historical fiction buff and loves a good psychological read about the war soldiers' philosophical quest to find some answers, this novel is a great place to spend your time on, or at least give a try.

Why not to Read: If you feel strongly about any of the parties involved in the text. Or if you are a context-reliant reader, then you will find it tiring to go search about all the things the book mentions. But that comes with this particular genre.

What Is Written On The Tongue is a dual time story with a Dutch theme. This is the story of Sam, the teenage son of a farmer in occupied Holland, safe under the noses of the Germans each time they were looking for workers – or taking prisoners – because they had made his father's barns a regional HQ.

It is also the story of a later Sam, now a soldier with the Dutch army sent to take back Colonial Java after the end of Japanese occupation.

The narrative dots back and forth between the two time lines. In the earlier part, Sam’s father uses his horse and cart to fetch deliveries from the train for the Germans. Sam’s older brother Leo is a miner and during one of the miner’s strikes, Leo is taken prisoner.

As the story unfolds we learn more about Sam’s family; his two sisters, his father and how they all did what they had to just to survive.

Java is another war zone, with rebels, communists and the Dutch all fighting. Sam starts to question everything: soldiers following orders, villagers starving, everyone living in fear; how is this different from what he left behind in Europe?

This was an interesting book, as it questions the principles of war, the morals of a soldier and how each person might try to live by what they believe is right. Apart from Sam there are some interesting secondary characters and I thought that the author portrayed them well. I haven’t read much about life in Dutch occupied lands during the war or from their colonisation, so this book gave me much to think about. I thought that the two timelines worked well, and certainly gave a diverse picture of war and oppression.

Told from two points of view, one addressing the future and one the past, this novel examines the post-WWII Dutch military buildup in Java to prevent the Javanese independence movement. Sam, just released from a Nazi labor camp, is part of a unit tasked with finding and killing insurgents, a mission that quickly devolves into barbarism and unchecked violence. Numerous secrets and histories come to light over the course of the novel, and in the end, the reader is left to consider the ongoing casualties of colonialism worldwide.

Describing the horrors of war and occupation, this book is told through the point of view of Sam, a young Dutchman and is written between two time periods of his life. I actually learned a lot through reading this novel, courtesy of NetGalley. Anne Lazurko really knows her stuff about WW2 and writes with compassion about human frailties and the lengths that one will go to, to survive and return to loved ones.

A big thank-you to Anne Lazurko, ECW Press, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
I was drawn to this title by enticing publisher's description and no disappointment there.
The history often plays a trick of people and those who were oppressed become oppressors ... The tale of a young Dutchman who suffered under the Nazi occupation and who after the war is over finds himself in Indonesia is poignant and sad. Sam Vandenberg feels confused being part of the Dutch military forces as he feels that at certain moment he does not differ that much from the German oppressors. Finding love helps him find his way home in a way and remain sane.
This novel is brilliant in several ways. The character development is its strong asset and so are the descriptions of Indonesian landscape, former Dutch colony. I know little if anything of the fight for independence and was totally unaware of the Dutch military engagement there in the late 1940s. That was eye-opening reading experience. The same may be said of the Netherlands under the Nazi regime. I had a most vague idea of the labour camps and the scale of the persecution the Dutch suffered during WW2.
A beautiful and yet disturbing novel that turned out to be unputdownable for me.

This was a good book, in particular because I was unaware that these events had occurred during WW2 and after in Indonesia. Sam is a young Dutch man during WW2 who spends his days hiding in the family farm chicken coop to avoid capture by the occupying Nazis. Until one day while picking left over potatoes from a field he's caught by the Nazis and sent to a labor camp, from there he is sent to the farm of the wife of a Nazi. He spends his days doing chores around the farm and longing for the day the Allied forces free him. In an alternate time line, not long after Sam is freed from the Nazis, he is conscripted into the Dutch army and sent to Indonesia, at the time it was the Dutch East Indies, Sam and his troop are fighting guerilla forces who are sabotaging their efforts by blowing up bridges and killing his fellow troop comrades by sniper fire. The two timelines unfold through Sam's experiences during both periods, the brutality of war and questionable decisions by senior members and the general chaotic nature of war in general are revealed. The author drew on personal family experience as related in the note at the end. Overall a very good book and I would recommend. Thank you to #Netgalley and #ECW Press for the ARC.

A very unique book written about times and places that I know nothing about. This is the story of Sam, a young Dutchman and is written in two very difficult time periods in Sam’s life. In 1944-1945, Sam is living on his family’s Nazi-occupied farm when he is caught stealing potatoes from a field controlled by German soldiers. He is sent to a German labor camp where he briefly reunites with his brother before being transferred to a farm to work for the widow of a Nazi soldier and is eventually rescued by Allied forces. Once Sam returns home, he is drafted into the Dutch army and sent to fight rebels in Dutch-occupied Indonesia.
The author does a terrific job of addressing the moral issues around war in general and especially the brutality associated with guerrilla warfare. After just experiencing the forced occupation of his own country, Sam must face the dilemmas around being a part of the occupation of another country whose citizens want freedom from the Dutch. He encounters decisions around how to determine who the enemy really is, who to help, who to kill and how to handle falling in love with a local girl knowing he cannot stay in Indonesia.
Sam is declared to be “a lost soul” and is beautifully brought back by a wise man and a mix of different religions. The book is disturbing and rightly so but cannot be rushed through as the details are sometimes subtle but thought-provoking. An entertaining read in spite of the tragedy and inevitable causalities of war.

this book was such a beautifully written war story, it was so well written and I had enjoyed reading this book.

This was an exquisitely written novel about a little known historical occurrence. I had never heard of "Holland's Vietnam", we sure didn't learn about this in school, so I was really glad to learn about this in such an entertaining and heartfelt way. The characters were beautifully drawn, and you come to care deeply about them, and the outcome of Indonesia. I highly recommend this wonderful novel.

A book set in both Holland during WWII and in the Indonesian war of independence (often called “Holland’s Vietnam”), we are treated with Anne Lazurko’s beautifully written novel which shows that nothing is simple when dealing with war.

Sam Vanderberg is conscripted to serve in the move to quell nationalist rebels in Java after having lived through the labor camps during the German occupation of Holland. We see both events unfold through his eyes as he navigates the complexity of human morality and the depth of what makes a flawed human being.

I was not educated on the postwar events in Indonesia and found this novel to be interesting as it detailed this part of history.

Thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press for the ARC to read and review

Having spent most of his teenage years during the Second World War avoiding the Nazis and their forced labour camps in occupied Holland, Sam is then conscripted at 18 into the Dutch army and sent to put down the insurgency in Indonesia. The narrative flips back and forward from what is happening in Indonesia to his experiences in WWII. Sam is basically a good guy but as war and violence go hand in hand with corruption he can't be the principled man he wants to be. I didn't know anything about rebellion against the Dutch in Indonesia in 1946, so I found that interesting. I felt it had a lot of parallels with the U.S. involvement in Vietnam(young soldiers who don't really believe in what they are meant to be fighting for, combating guerilla warfare tactics, moral corruption and atrocities).

I thought that although the subject matter was interesting that the narrative was a little flat. I felt that Sam's experiences in WWII felt more alive and vibrant than the Indonesian story with it's predictable tale of Sam falling for a local girl who he hardly knows and taking risks for her. Ultimately, I found the book a little dull..

Anne Lazurko's “What Is Written on the Tongue,” about the Dutch military in the East Indies after World War II, starts off on a strongly personal note as its chief character, 20-year-old conscript Sam Vandenberg, reflects on the indignity of a genital inspection for venereal disease. Such checks were a regular thing, we're told, during the Dutch offensive to contain nationalist rebels in Java, an episode in postwar history which was largely unfamiliar to me and, I suspect, to many readers of Lazurko's novel, which alternates between postwar action in Java and the German occupation of the Netherlands during the war as it serves up its story with an intensely personal focus. An episode during the war in which Sam has been pressed by the Nazis into assisting a German farm woman with whom he ends up coupling during an air raid, another in which he learns that one of his sisters bedded a German and was reviled by her countrymen for it, still another in which a naked German woman offers herself to advancing American GIs, these are the sorts of individual moments that make history come alive and which Lazurko depicts so vividly in a novel in which I'd have liked a greater focus just on Sam and his immediate family -- in particular I'd have liked more on the sister’s ordeal. Still, the novel as written, with a focus that includes members of Sam's squad, is a compelling one and an important one, particularly with the questions it raises about loyalties during wartime and the parallels it explores between the actions of the German occupiers during the war and those of the Dutch occupiers in the East Indies afterward.

This book is magnificent an epic novel describing Life under German colonisation in world war 2 and the Indonesian war of independence.A book to rival
The English Patient I was drawn in immediately and surfaced only to sleep and Eat
The book described the horror of war and occupation through the eyes of a young man who survives his teenaged years under German occupation in Holland during the hunger years .As soon as Holland is liberated and before he can relax and become a man in freedom he is conscripted into the Dutch army fighting Indonesian rebels to retain the Dutch hold on their colony .
I found the book deeply moving and upsetting but at the same time the beauty of the Indonesian jungle and of the gentle character of the young man were touching and lovely .
We are not designed for war but some have war forced on them ,this novel describes with deep understanding what this does to shape the emerging personality of this young man .The book has deep anti war sentiment which is strongly held but subtly described
I was lucky to read an early copy on NetGalley Uk the book is published 26 April 2022 by ECW press

A really good historical novel that was rich in detail and imagery and a unique storyline. I really enjoyed it