Born into wealth and privilege,Rudolf Kerkhoven is destined to follow his father's footsteps into the Dutch colonies,with its uncleared jungle foothills and potential for riches.When he arrives in Java he is immediately smitten by the landscape and the life,and over the seasons,Rudolf's dedication and diligence gradually transform the land into a productive estate for tea,coffee and quinine. When he meets the independent-minded Jenny and their two sons are born,Rudolf is happier than he thought possible. But for Jenny,the damp austerity of their home,her fertility,her father's secret,and the native spirits of the land grow to overshadow their marriage and the life they've strived for together.Lusciously atmospheric and masterfully drawn,this is an unforgettable story of aspiration,determination,rivalry and romance on a tropical plantation.
MEDIA REVIEWS
Publisher: Granta BooksISBN: 9781846271717Number of pages: 352Weight: 215 gDimensions: 198 x 130 x 30 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
A graceful,marvellously achieved improvisation that only a novelist of the greatest imagination and sympathy could have writtenPut it at the top of your reading listHaasse has created a compelling piece of innovative historical fiction...(She) effortlessly combines an evocation of the plantation's heady,lush vegetation with her articulation of the growing distance between man and wife. And her aptly chosen metaphors are all skillfully conveyed in Ina Rilke's translationDisplays a knowledgeable and intimate empathy for plantation life,sucking you into the steaming Indonesian jungles and cut-glass propriety of Dutch colonial society without suspending judgement on colonialism itselfThe large cast of characters is convincingly displayed and deftly manipulated. The evocation of Java is vivid and full of feelingHaasse's atmospheric historical novel receives an elegantly idiomatic translation from Ina Rilke...an affecting portrait of a life devoted to duty,which asks whether the sacrifice was worth the emotional costs.Translated into graceful prose,this morally challenging work,constructed from documents and letters,has already become a novel by which others,inside and outside its tradition,can be judged.
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