The Cat Who Came in Off the Roof

The Cat Who Came In off the Roof / Annie M.G. Schmidt
trans. from the Dutch by David Colmer
NY: Yearling, 2017, c1970.
149 p.

I picked up this charming little book from my library late last year, when I was looking for translated children's books for a list I was sharing. It's adorable and I loved it! 

I hadn't known of Annie M.G. Schmidt previously, but was informed that she is a classic Dutch author, like the Astrid Lindgren of the Netherlands. This book was first published in 1970 so it has some bits that might seem a little unusual now, especially when it comes to mothering skills, but overall it holds up extremely well. 

Mr. Tibble is a meek journalist who is in danger of losing his job because most of his stories are about cats. His editor tells him to write something a little more hard-hitting, but he's not sure how. Then he rescues Miss Minou, a young woman who has dashed up a tree to avoid some dogs and can't get down. 

Miss Minou has a strange connection to the various cats in Mr. Tibble's neighbourhood, and since cats are everywhere and hear everything, she finds juicy gossip to pass on to him as payback for his allowing her to stay in his apartment. His career as a journalist is on the rise! 

You will not be surprised to hear that Miss Minou has a deep, dark secret, and that Mr. Tibble's love for cats is a Very Good Thing here. There is a fair mix of humour here, both light and darker, and great set pieces highlighting various characters, whether human or feline. I wouldn't recommend it for really young children, but as an older middle grade novel it's fine, and definitely has much to be appreciated by adult readers. 

If you're also a cat lover and looking for a brief, entertaining read in translation, see if you can get your hands on this one. Charm, humour, cats, and a bit of snark. Fun reading experience!

Sleepless Night

Sleepless Night / Margriet de Moor;
trans. from the Dutch by David Doherty
Toronto: Anansi International, 2019.
102 p.

This slim novel was a treat. A widow bakes in the depth of night while her lover lies sleeping upstairs (though I did wonder why he didn't wake up with the noise of baking, mixing etc or from the delicious smells...) She thinks of her life while she's insomnia baking; the story moves back and forth between the present, the recent past, and the more distant past to explore her lingering questions about her young husband's suicide - why he did it, and whether she can trust herself to find love again.

In this small book of night thoughts, shared while her bundt is baking, we learn quite a lot about the narrator. Her short marriage, just 14 months, was ended when her husband unexpectedly killed himself. She's questioning why, looking at their past together, trying to figure out reasons when you can't ask the dead for explanations. They met at university, and she goes over their university days and the group of friends that led to their meeting and marriage. This included his sister, who is now moving away from the family farm, where the widow has stayed despite herself. 

So many small interactions cross her mind, so many connections, and yet she can't decide where she stands in all of this. The man upstairs is her potential for the future, a man who has also been abandoned, though his wife simply left him. 

It's short, spare, but thought provoking. There are clues sprinkled throughout which an attentive reader may piece together to form their own conclusions as to why he might have done it. I know I have my own theories. Because of its size and the conceit of recollections in the middle of the night by one person, there isn't a great range of characterization but it is a wonderful study of one woman and her experience of marriage and loss, and the painful continuation of life nonetheless. 

I haven't read any other of Margriet de Moor's books, but she is a prolific and award winning Dutch writer, and I'm intrigued enough by this book to search out any of her other translated works. 

The Ten Thousand Things

The Ten Thousand Things / Maria Dermout
Translated from the Dutch by Hans Koning
New York: Vintage, 1984, c1955
244 p.

This classic was a beautiful, dream like book. I first heard of it only last year during WIT Month, and so when I saw it on the shelves of my favourite second hand bookstore I grabbed it.

Set in the Spice Islands of Indonesia, it traces three generations of (mostly) women who live at the Small Garden, a family estate that was once much larger. 

From childhood legends to religious beliefs to the clash of local and Dutch culture, there is a sense of the mysterious about this story. The narrative style reflects this, too. The past seems to live within the present; time is fluid, characters come and go from their different eras in one flowing narrative. 

Felicia returns to the Moluccas from Europe with her baby son, after her husband abandons them. She comes back to the Small Garden where her grandmother still lives, and together they become the ladies of the garden. They make a bit of money for a while selling herbal concoctions, even if trade is beneath their station. They find a way to make it less obvious, with servants and boats and meetings and so forth. They are both still living in a past that is full of legend, rote, mystery, while facing a present of necessity for money, and a soldiering life for her son as he grows. 

The lives of the other inhabitants of the island intertwine with theirs; from the family in the past whose three young daughters, killed young, are said to haunt the Small Garden, to the servants and their extended families, to the colonial soldiers who are based on the island -- they all affect one another sharply.

It's hard to describe this book. It's dreamy, dangerous, dark, deceptively simple. There are moments of sharp violence and fear, and moments of beauty and peace. It evokes a life that stays constant in many ways over generations of this family, a lifestyle that is coming to an end. 

I found the writing to be gorgeously poetic, descriptive and beautiful even when relating terrible events. It felt like an enchantment was woven over the reading experience; I became completely absorbed in the pace and the setting of the story. Definitely a classic to explore, especially if this is an area you're interested in. I didn't know much about this area or its history, so this was a powerful introduction, one that has stayed in my mind for a long time after finishing it.

Midnight Blue

Midnight Blue / Simone van der Vlugt; translated from the Dutch by Jenny Watson.
London: Harper, c2017.
327 p.

If you like historicals set in the Netherlands, something like The Girl With the Pearl Earring, you will probably also really enjoy this novel centred on the discovery and production of Delft Blue china.

This is the first of Van der Vlugt's three historical novels to be translated into English, and I hope the others will soon follow. It's a well-written, historically dense and yet character-driven story of a young woman's journey from young widowhood to the full use of her talents and drive as a mature and happy woman. 

Catrin is 25 when her older, abusive husband dies, in the spring of 1654. The other residents of her small village whisper that she had a hand in his passing; she's always been a little suspect because of her artistic tendencies anyhow. She decides very quickly that she will leave the village, finding a housekeeping job in Amsterdam and moving on despite disapproval for such a forward decision.

But her past follows her and so she must move on, and on. She ends up encountering Rembrandt and Vermeer, as well as other minor artists, who encourage her with kind words. She eventually finds herself in Delft, where she gets a job as a pottery painter. The pottery saves her; not only is it amenable work, and an income, but there she makes friends who help her through the crisis when it comes. 

Catrin is a no-nonsense woman who works hard but always has a view to art and beauty as well. She is forthright and honest, even while hiding secrets from her past that could catch her up in quite a final manner. I enjoyed hearing this story from her perspective -- some of the characters who show up in this tale are real names from history, and an afterword tells us some of the details about what happened after this story ends. The production of Delft Blue continued, and there are trails to follow if you are interested in the real-life characters. 

But as a novel, aside from the historical facts included, this stands up very well. Catrin is a complex and thoughtful character, and there are many discussions about the purpose of art, the quandries of guilt and responsibility, the reality of love and loss and much more. There is enough suspense and activity in her story to keep a reader focused and wondering what the outcome is going to look like. The writing style is quiet and restrained even when dealing with tragic accidents like the Delft Thunderclap, or the recurrence of the plague. Despite some of the darker themes, it's actually quite a light and engaging read.

It's a seamless mix of fact and fiction - with a gorgeous cover - and I read it straight through.