(De Zoon Uit Spanje)
Tessa De Loo
Gerlof de Windt, retired teacher of classical languages, is very ill. His children want to make his last birthday into an unforgettable family celebration. That is not going to be easy because one of them, the rebel Bardo, was banished from the house twenty-five years ago and has not been back since. He drifts around in the south of Spain and no one knows what kind of life he leads. To reunite father and son – before it is too late – the only daughter of the family has sought contact with him and has managed to convince him to come back for this last opportunity.
The apparent certainties of life in a well-to-do and well structured world comes up against the idea of freedom based on conviction that Bardo stands for, and the moral consequences thereof. The still smouldering feud between father and son threatens to flair up again, while the question of who will have to look after father on his deathbed hangs like a dark cloud over the festivities. Because everyone is so busy – except perhaps Bardo?
‘… a humorous novel written with great pace, a variant on the lost son story that doesn’t miss its mark: that is, convincing us that we are on the wrong path with all our chasing and hunting ‘ Haagsche Courant
‘Nuanced and carefully written, De Loo gives an un-pretty window onto the monster union that’s called family.’ Spitz
‘…a cleverly compact novel.’ Financieel Dagblad
‘All in all certain important aspects come out the entirety of the oeuvre, and that is definitely clever… people hang from her lips as she reads fragments of her new book. You can hear that this is a book that will speak to many. Wam de Moore calls the novel a morality, exactly the book that the Netherlands needs right now.’ Eindhovens Dagblad (about a book launch event)
Sales
- De Arbeiderspers NL (original publisher)
- C Bertelsmann Germany
Material: finished copies (173pp)