| Books
about/set in the Netherlands and Belgium
- Holland
- Belgium
Holland
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The Diary of a Young
Girl: Definitive Edition
by Anne Frank A
first-hand account of a teenager's life in hiding during
the German occupation of Holland in the Second World
War. Anne and her family took refuge, with some other
Jewish people, in an Amsterdam warehouse and lived in
these appallingly restrictive and frightening conditions
from June 1942 until August 1944, when they were discovered
by the Nazis.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
Recommended by: Clare, student at JMJ Manchester
Click here to read about JMJ
- the school, the teachers and the director. |
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Max Havelaar: Or the Coffee Auctions
of A Dutch Trading Company
by "Multatuli" This
book is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important
Dutch novels of all time and Multatuli (pseudonym for
Eduard Douwes Dekker) has been hailed as the Dutch Dickens.
Based on the author's own experiences
as a Dutch civil servant in Java, "Max Havelaar"
describes a man's struggle against his country's regime
to end the oppression in the colony where he lived and
worked.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Mark, student at JMJ |
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Girl
with a Pearl Earring
by Tracy Chevalier The (fictional)
story of how the famous painting came into being. Well
researched and giving a strong sense of the Dutch town
of Delft in the seventeenth century. A girl gets a job
as a servant in Vermeer's household and comes to appreciate
his art.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Georgie, Director of JMJ |
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Girl in Hyacinth
Blue
by Susan Vreeland In
a similar vein, this book traces the history of a (fictional)
painting by Vermeer. Each episode shows how the picture
affected the lives of those who owned it and how they
came to own it in the first place. It starts in the
present and follows the trail back to when Girl in Hyacinth
Blue was painted.
Click
here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
Recommended by: Georgie |
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Tulip Fever
by Deborah Moggach Another
story about painting set in seventeenth-century Holland,
this time in Amsterdam. A wealthy man invites a dashing
young artist to paint a portrait of him and his much
younger wife, with predictable consequences.
Although the plot is not exactly original,
the book is worth reading for the background - the view
of 1630s Dutch life and the speculation on the tulip
market. Amazing to think that tulips were to them almost
like gold is to us.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Georgie |
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Lust for Life
by Irving Stone A great introduction to the
life and works of Vincent van Gogh.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Natalie, student at JMJ |
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The Discovery of
Heaven
by Harry Mulisch If you enjoyed
Foucault's
Pendulum (Umberto Eco) and even The
Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown), you will love this Dutch
novel. It's an exciting, clever exploration of many
deep issues, held together by a gripping plot.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Melanie, student at JMJ |
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Brothers
by Ted Van Lieshout A compelling
exploration of relationships, death and self-acceptance,
through the diary shared by two brothers.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
Recommended by: Gary, student at JMJ |
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Looking for Mr Nobody
by Sue Rann Homelessness and biotechnology
in Amsterdam. A surprisingly good thriller.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
Recommended by: Paul, student at JMJ |
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The Devil's Playground
by Stav Sherez A dark thriller
set in Amsterdam but with views of the Holocaust. Strong
stuff - totally gripping but also scary and upsetting
in places.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Laurie, student at JMJ |
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The Houdini Girl
by Martyn Bedford A magician
falls in love with an Irish girl, who moves in with
him for a year but then mysteriously disappears. He
follows the trail from Oxford to Amsterdam and finally
uncovers the sad truth of what happened to her. Compelling,
if somewhat disturbing.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Georgie |
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Murder in Amsterdam:
The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance
by Ian Buruma An excellent, incisive account
of the murder of the Dutch film-maker by a Muslim.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Mark, student at JMJ |
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| Belgium |
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The Sorrow of Belgium
by Hugo Claus A twentieth-century
Flemish classic. World War II Belgium from the point
of view of an adolescent. Quite heavy going in parts
but worth it.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Clare, student at JMJ |
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Marcel
by Erwin Mortier This is the
story of a ten-year-old boy trying to find out his family
secret: what became of his grandmother's brother Marcel.
Well written, often funny. An exploration
of pride, shame and guilt in the aftermath of World
War II and the burden of expectations put on a child.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Christian, student at JMJ |
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| Inspired
to learn Dutch?
If you live in or near Manchester, you could start a one-to-one
Dutch course with us tomorrow (or whenever you like).
If you are a complete beginner, you might like to have
a look at our introduction
to the Dutch language.
Back to Recommended
Reading
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