Een Andere Wereld, the Dutch language translation of my novel What World Is Left has brought a lot of joy into my life. One of the joys is connecting with Dutch readers. I often think that, had the Second World War not happened, my parents would have stayed in Holland and I'd likely have lived out my life there. So some of the Dutch readers who have contacted me might well have been my friends....
Last week, I had a message from a woman who is also named Monique. She told me she is enjoying Een Andere Wereld a lot, but that, at night, she finds herself having bad dreams about the book.
At first, I didn't know how to respond. I have to admit I was pleased my book is having a big impact on her -- but I also felt badly about the bad dreams. Then I came up with an idea of how I could reply to her.
I decided to tell Monique a little about my mother, whose story I used as the basis for Een Andere Wereld/ What World Is Left. It's true my mother suffered a great deal during her years in Theresienstadt, a Nazi concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic. But what I really wanted Monique to know is that my mother is a happy fun smart lively woman who managed in her own way to overcome her past without ever forgetting about it. In my note to Monique, I told her my mother is "geestig" (not sure I spelled that Dutch word right, but it means funny in a sharp way, which my mum certainly is).
We all go through tough times -- and of course, people who lived through the Holocaust went through especially tough times -- but it's important for the rest of us to know that not only can people survive, but they can emerge whole... altered, that's for sure, but still whole.
Dank u vel, Monique T, for writing to me! My mother sends you her groetjes!