Read a letter penned by Song of a Blackbird author Maria van Lieshout.
In this letter, author Maria van Lieshout talks about her very personal connection to this historically inspired graphic novel. You can also scroll down to the very bottom of the letter, for a few gorgeous full illustrated pages extracted from the novel.
Dear Reader,
Song of a Blackbird is very personal to me, because it is inspired by events that have shaped my family, and have therefore shaped me.
I first learned about the bank heist in the story after my grandmother passed away in 2011. My grandparents never spoke of the war during their lives, because it brought back too much trauma. When we discovered several manuscripts written by my grandparents about the years under Nazi occupation, while cleaning up my grandmother’s apartment after her passing, it was like finding a treasure.
I learned about my grandfather’s close friend and Resistance fighter Frits, who had been involved with the plot to fund the Resistance by robbing the National Bank. And I learned how my mother’s childhood home was bombed by the RAF in an attempt to destroy SS headquarters, located right behind her row house.
The discovery inspired a personal quest to learn more. I interviewed descendants of those involved, searched through Amsterdam’s City Archives, read out-of-print biographies and visited the places in Amsterdam where a grim past could still be felt.
During this journey, I became especially inspired by the heroic role women and artists played in the Resistance, including in pulling off the bank heist. When I decided to create a graphic novel, I knew it had to be from the perspective of a young female artist.
I hope to show young readers that one person can make a difference if she chooses to use her voice, and her art.
Art and stories unite us, because they allow us to see the world through the eyes of another. Therefore, sharing stories is a way to resist those who try to divide us and to make us afraid of others.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing stories, including this one, with readers.
Maria van Lieshout
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Song of a Blackbird
by Maria van Lieshout
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.
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