The Sword Is Drawn

This is the first book in a trilogy which includes Sword in Sheath and At Sword's Points. The protagonist is Lorens Van Norreys, descendent of Dutch merchant adventurers. The story opens as the Netherlands is about to fall to the Germans and Lorens is told by his dying grandfather that he must keep the secret of a historic piece of jewelry, significant in Dutch history. The Nazis descend, and Lorens escapes with the help of his grandfathers Malay servant and some smugglers. Eventually Lorens makes his way to Dutch Indonesia, where the story picks up some weeks before Pearl Harbor. After the Japanese attack the East Indies, we follow the retreat of the Dutch. Lorens makes it to Australia, and then realizes he needs to get back to where he left the jewels in Holland. He makes his way to the U.S., gets some on-the-side commando training (he has suffered some serious injuries in a plane crash and is not rated for combat), and then back to Holland. He must deal with apparent traitors, Nazis, and heroic comrades. The defeat of the Allies in the East Indies is very grim reading, but Norton does not dwell too much on it. While this is an adventure, Norton does not view the war as romantic. Death can come quickly and the picture of a folk being beaten back on two fronts is well done. The book was written in 1944, and while it is apparent the war will end in allied victory, the future of individuals, especially fools, is uncertain. Lorens is pretty well drawn. Impetuous and a little foolish in the beginning, but he clearly learns from his experiences. A trick Norton uses is to introduce sections with parts of letters that Lorens writes to his friend Lawrence in Cleveland, Ohio (Norton's home). There is an introduction by a lady who was involved, as was Norton, in a pen-pal youth group. Some of the correspondents were Dutch and some of their material was useful to Norton in writing the book.