What is the setting of The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss?

The story takes place starting in the year 1933 and goes until the area that Annie and her sister were hiding in Holand is overtaken by Canadian forces thus freeing the Jews. There is a little description given of the outside of the house because Annie is able to look out of a window once in a while. These times are so rare that the scenery changes vastly between times she sees the trees and these vast changes are relayed to the reader. Most of the setting that is described in the book is that of what the main character, Annie, gets to see. There is the small hiding place that Annie and her sister, Sini, are kept in while at one house. Then there is the cave outback of the Hannick house where Sini and Annie are forced to stay at two different times in the story. The Oosterveld family home is where Sini and Annie stay for three years and so this is where the majority of the book takes place.

There are brief explanations of other places in the book that are explained and the way that the people are treated when they go into town is also looked at in some detail. The fact that the Jews cannot go to town and have to wear a star on their clothing is explained from the point of view of Annie. Her home before the war is explained and there is a lot of detail given to the small little room that Johan built for the girls to hide in. This is not important for any other reason than because this room was both torture and life saving. The room was extremely small so that the soldiers would not notice it, but it was also what kept the girls alive.