If I could meet someone from history, I’d love to talk to the jailer whose life Dirk Willems saved all those years ago. How did he feel about the prisoner coming back to save his life? How did he feel later when Dirk Willems was executed? And, then what happened? The Jailer and His Daughter is my attempt to try to understand what he might have gone through. The story of Dirk Willems didn’t end when he died; the story has lived on in our imaginations, all these years later.

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A jail guard in Holland in 1569, Pieter accepts the Spanish king’s authority over his country, convinced that the prisoners he guards must deserve their fate – including the heretics who reject Catholicism.

Then one day, while chasing an escaped prisoner, Pieter falls through the ice of a frozen river and starts to drown. Because of his Anabaptist beliefs, the prisoner, Dirk Willems, turns back to save Pieter’s life without considering the consequences. His self-sacrifice causes Pieter to question his beliefs. In his searching, he grows closer to his daughter Fenna, who admits her longing to read. But finding a teacher for his daughter leads Pieter deeper into the Anabaptist community. Before long, Pieter and Fenna are attending secret meetings, risking their lives to find their faith.