The first time I visited Kamp Amersfoort I picked up a book that told the story of a farmer and his young son, who were granted access by the German authorities to go into the camp daily to collect the potato peelings for their cattle. Their horse and cart was a familiar sight and eventually no one took much notice of their comings and goings. However, Jan, the young farmer’s boy, began to smuggle letters into the camp for prisoners, stuffed down his knee- high socks. He and his family led a successful smuggling operation throughout the whole time they were picking up potato peelings - and they were never once caught.

The idea for a novel seeded itself in my mind…