Tenderness and a Warm Embrace
Publisher: Atlas Contact
About the wondrous bond between a nine-year-old child and a sixty-year-old woman: playful, witty, and sincere
‘Maybe you have to grow old to understand the child inside yourself.’
A nine-year-old boy goes to stay at his grandparents’ house when his father, tormented by memories of war, is having a breakdown. But in that house, another war awaits him: Ommie, the woman hired by his stern grandfather as a live-in ‘maid for day and night’ increasingly resists her serving role. Ommie takes on the role of grandmother and grows into a peacemaker in her employer’s broken family. The boy emulates her bravery and she helps him overcome his fears. A close bond develops between the two – colored by their yearning for love and recognition. In reconstructing Ommie’s life and that profoundly significant summer, Van Dis shifts from past to present and shows what today says about those past times.
Praise:
‘Rhythmic, poetic and musical.’ – Het Parool
‘The subtle way Van Dis exposes this exploitation and mutual dependence between the retired gentleman farmer and his maid makes this novel rise far above ‘the private’.’ – Neerlandistiek.nl
‘A tender new chapter in Van Dis’ magnificent oeuvre.” – ZIN
