Girl in the Blue Coat: Chapters 19–25

by Monica Hesse
As World War II rages, Hanneke is hired to find a Jewish teenager who disappeared from the house in which she was hiding. In the course of her search, Hanneke is drawn into the Dutch resistance movement secretly fighting the Nazis.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 6, Chapters 7–10, Chapters 11–18, Chapters 19–25, Chapters 26–34
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. haughty
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    Mrs. de Vries is as haughty as ever, an icicle of a human being.
  2. brooch
    a decorative pin
    She reaches her hand to her throat but covers the gesture by adjusting the brooch at her collar.
  3. impeccable
    without error or flaw
    He's followed by an older woman, fussy-looking, with impeccable hair and makeup.
  4. privy
    informed about something secret or not generally known
    The Cohens nod politely at me, and then Mrs. Cohen suggests to her husband that Mina and I might like some privacy. They leave; Mrs. de Vries stays, as if unwilling to allow any conversations in her house she is not privy to.
  5. bewildered
    extremely confused and uncertain what to do
    She reads my bewildered expression and raises both hands to her face, mimicking a gesture I immediately recognize.
  6. darn
    repair a garment by weaving thread across a hole
    Mrs. Cohen takes up a pile of socks from Mrs. de Vries's mending pile and quietly begins to darn them.
  7. farce
    a comedy characterized by broad satire
    "I could even see Mrs. de Vries in the shadows in her own alley, but I didn't dare call out to her; it was completely absurd, like we were actors in a stage farce. I thought the soldiers would never leave."
  8. translucent
    allowing light to pass through diffusely
    After everyone else has gone to bed, Mina and Ollie and I crowd around a desk in Mr. de Vries's empty study and remove the slides from the envelope—translucent images, each just an inch wide.
  9. foreground
    the part of a scene that is near the viewer
    Instead, the first image is from the summertime, of a public park, with grass, and flowers, and in the foreground, a row of men with yellow stars on their jackets and their hands in the air, and on their faces, terror, clear even in miniature.
  10. jeer
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    Two soldiers jeering at a frightened Jewish man.
  11. reel
    walk as if unable to control one's movements
    I reel backward, staring at Ollie. "What did you just say?"
  12. brash
    offensively bold
    Bas was a thousand good things. A million good things. But he was brash, and reckless, and he never thought before acting.
  13. occupation
    the control of a country by forces of a foreign power
    Her parents supported the German occupation, though they weren't obvious about it. It was a private, obsequious support.
  14. obsequious
    attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
    Her parents supported the German occupation, though they weren't obvious about it. It was a private, obsequious support.
  15. bludgeon
    overcome or coerce as if by using a heavy club
    Her words had bludgeoned me, bludgeoned even the parts of me I thought were already dead.
  16. euphoric
    characterized by a feeling of well-being or elation
    I'm somewhere between euphoric and half dead; floating spots drift in front of my eyes whenever I look too long at one thing.
  17. reprieve
    the act of postponing or remitting punishment
    I don't know why she's offering me this reprieve—maybe it's just that she's as exhausted as I am, maybe she doesn't want to fight today—but I'll take it.
  18. pare
    remove the edges from and cut down to the desired size
    The paring knife hangs in my hand.
  19. trill
    a note that alternates with another note a semitone above it
    She plays it again and again, each time adding a new variation that makes the tune more complex, until the original simple melody is barely audible beneath the trills and chords on top of it.
  20. transgression
    the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle
    I think my transgression is mostly forgiven.
  21. poised
    marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for action
    Mama hears it, too, and stops, her fingers poised a few centimeters off the keys.
  22. coherent
    capable of thinking in a clear and consistent manner
    “I’m letting him sleep for a few hours instead," he says. "He'll be furious when he wakes up, but he was barely coherent. If I'd let him ride to your house, we'd be fishing him out of a canal this afternoon..."
  23. intimate
    marked by close acquaintance, association, or familiarity
    I don't know Willem nearly as well as Ollie, but he has a reassuring kindness that immediately feels familiar. While we walk through my neighborhood, he keeps his head bent toward mine as though we’re having an intimate conversation, but what he's really doing is explaining the Schouwburg.
  24. loiter
    linger, remain, or wait around for no apparent reason
    It gives us a reason to loiter in the area.
  25. disheveled
    in disarray; extremely disorderly
    The prisoners follow, carrying suitcases, disheveled and tired like they haven't slept in days.
  26. furtively
    in a secretive manner
    Willem's eyes dart furtively to the left and then the right, sweeping along the horizon. "What route would let you get away with the least chance of someone seeing you?"
  27. municipal
    relating to a self-governing district
    "We’ll be passing the Oosterpark,” I suggest. It's a big, manicured municipal park, and it would be easy for several people to disappear into the Oosterpark’s darkness.
  28. vein
    make a pattern like vessels that carry blood to the heart
    We've come to an intersection where three streets cross each other, veining off at odd angles so that the sightline cuts off after less than twenty-five meters.
  29. contingency
    a possible event or occurrence or result
    I'd planned for a million contingencies: Her at home, him at home, both of them at home, and this is the one I knew would be the best scenario for me.
  30. rouge
    makeup consisting of powder applied to the cheeks
    I almost never went inside it, though Elsbeth would occasionally sneak in and return with her mother's rouge for us to practice applying.
  31. dismal
    causing dejection
    The Tonsil didn't fit, and Elsbeth gave it to me, giggling at my face when I opened the hideous dress. But Elsbeth had to keep its mate, another dress in dismal grayish purple.
  32. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    "I should go, then, for Ollie's mother," I say.
    Except, of course, Ollie's mother is fine and Pia is probably home right now obliviously doing her schoolwork.
  33. query
    pose a question
    I'll be querying them about the carriage, showing the false orders Willem created.
  34. deprecate
    cause to seem or feel unimportant; belittle
    Now I really am laughing, covering my mouth with my hand, because it’s such an unsatisfactory letter, which in turn makes it so much like Bas: solemn one minute and ridiculous the next. Self-deprecating and sweet.
  35. lurch
    move abruptly
    Ollie lurches back, holding his palms up to stop me from coming closer.
Created on Fri Jul 12 10:58:07 EDT 2019 (updated Tue Jul 30 13:14:32 EDT 2019)

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