My Years with Corrie (by Ellen de Kroon Stamps)

(Amazon UK link)

I hadn't heard of Ellen de Kroon Stamps when I saw this book on a second-hand Christian bookstall. But Corrie ten Boom is well-known for her part in World War II in Holland, and for her autobiography 'The Hiding Place' which was later made into a film. 

'My Years with Corrie' is written from the perspective of Ellen, who was her personal assistant and secretary for ten years. It opens and closes with Ellen's next stage in life - her marriage to Bob Stamps, and the birth of their first child, Peter John. But the majority of the book charts the decade when Ellen 'tramped' the world - mostly in aeroplanes - with Corrie ten Boom, to talks and conferences and presentations.

It's not written chronologically; perhaps that would have been impossible. The earlier chapters tell the story of how Ellen, a trained nurse, came to take on a job for which she had no qualifications whatsoever. But the book is about her journey as a Christian, as much as her journey with Corrie - and how she learns to overcome some of her worries and fears.

It's not the greatest writing, but I found the anecdotes interesting. It's very honest about the author's difficulties in trusting God, and how she gradually learns to trust him for money and for direction. At last she accepts that she might be called to the single life - just in time for her to meet the man she would eventually marry.

I read this over a week, a few chapters a day. Recommended in a low-key sort of way to anyone intrigued to know more about the amazing - and very human - Corrie ten Boom. 

Now out of print in both UK and USA, but sometimes available second-hand. Published in Kindle form too. 

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, June 2008