- The Ascent, by Stefan Hertmans. Text, $32.99.
Some years ago, Dutch writer Stefan Hertmans discovered that the house he had purchased in Ghent was once the residence of a man who, during WWII, made a profitable living by passing on to the Gestapo the names of fellow-citizens who were unenthusiastic about them. The man in question was a Flemish man named Willem Verhulst, blind in one eye since childhood.
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At school, Willem was picked on by his French-speaking fellow students and from then on, he hated anything to do with the French. After qualifying as a gardener, he became a committed supporter of different Flemish Movements.
At this stage, it helps if a reader has some idea of the history and politics of Belgium, especially at a time when the Nazis were spreading their influence between the two world wars.
At the age of 20, Willem seduces and marries Elsa, 10 years older than he is and of Jewish background, though apparently not a practising Jew. She becomes very ill and is cared for by a local girl named Mientje. After Elsa dies, Willem and Mientje marry and have three children named Adri, Letta and Suzy.
By the time the Germans enter Belgium in 1940, the family is living in Ghent where he has an office from which he sends names to the occupiers. In time, he wears full SS uniform, but Mientje will have nothing to do with that part of his life. He takes a mistress, a Flemish Nationalist named Griet who will outlive Mientje and become his third wife.
At this stage, the author tells the story of his own attempts to purchase the house where, more than 30 years earlier, the Verhulst family had lived. By now, Adri, Letta and Suzy are adults, the first an academic, and each of them has written an account of their family life in Ghent during and after the war.
In 1945, with the Nazis defeated, Verhulst is charged and found guilty of "taking up arms against Belgium and its allies, politics of collaboration, acting as an informant, and theft".
He is spared the death penalty, instead given solitary confinement "and lifelong deprivation of civil rights". He is released after six years and lives in some comfort for the rest of his life, a further 25, using his Mercedes to move between Mientje and Griet.
The book alternates between history and fiction, not always obviously. It makes extensive use of the writings and diaries of Verhulst's last two wives and three children. The original of the book is in Dutch.
While the writing is sparkling, and the story a strong one, the setting in mid-century Belgium is likely to be difficult for most Australian readers. A map of the cities and towns mentioned in the book would add much to the work.
