Summary of In My Father’s Garden
Hans grows up in a strict Reformed Protestant family in Gelderland, in the east of the Netherlands, but moves to The Hague to break away from the oppressive environment of his youth. He later returns to Gelderland, has a happy marriage, and runs his own flower-breeding business. However, over time, he becomes increasingly rigid in his own religious beliefs, to the point where his faith takes over his life and alienates him from his wife and children.
Reasons to read In My Father’s Garden
“In My Father’s Garden” illustrates how a person can gradually fall under the influence of a fundamentalist, sectarian interpretation of religion, with oppressive effects on the entire family. The novel is intense, dark, and deeply personal, partly inspired by the author’s own youth, and offers insight into the lives of orthodox Protestants in the Netherlands. “In My Father’s Garden” was awarded the AKO Literature Prize (now the Boekenbon Prize) in 2005. Jan Siebelink also won the Bordewijk Prize in 2002 (for “The Other Side of the River”).
Setting: Velp-Lathum, Gelderland (the Netherlands)
Original title: Knielen op een bed van violen
Year of publication: 2005
Nr of pages: 392
