Award for literary gem

THE story of a Dutch Jewish girl who survived the Second World War picked up one of the Costa Book Awards this year.

The Cut Out Girl was written by Oxford University English professor, Bart van Es, whose grandparents helped to shelter Lien de Jong-Spiero. Now 85, she lives in Amsterdam.

The judges called the book, which won in the biography category, “the hidden gem of the year”. It was “sensational and gripping”, they said, shedding light on some of the most urgent issues of our time”.