Search results for ""Author Hella S. Haasse""

During the late Middle Ages, conflict raged between France and England as they battled in pursuit of power, the throne and beyond. It became known as the Hundred Years’ War. Hella S. Haasse’s epic masterpiece brings this period to vivid life, as the novel’s infamous characters move across a panoramic tapestry woven together by criss-crossed bloodlines and intense rivalries. There is the mad King Charles VI and his heartless Bavarian wife Isabeau; the King’s dashing brother Louis, Duke of Orléans and his sensitive Italian Duchess, Valentine. Their son, Charles, inherits a ferocious feud with the powerful and scheming Duke of Burgundy. Meanwhile, their bastard son becomes the right arm of Joan of Arc. Charles of Orléans is the central character of this astonishing novel, a man caught up in deadly dynastic rivalries who survives because he is captured by the English at the Battle of Agincourt and made their prisoner for the next 25 years. In that time he perfects his craft as a writer and becomes one of the great French poets of the era. In a narrative that spans decades, we also bear witness to the reign of three English Kings: Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V, the brilliant leader of the English army, who changes the face of war at Agincourt. First published in the Netherlands in 1949 and never out of print, In a Dark Wood Wandering is a timeless classic.

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Amid the lush abundance of Java's landscape, two boys spend their days exploring the vast lakes and teeming forests. But as time passes the boys come to realize that their shared sense of adventure cannot bridge the gulf between their backgrounds, for one is the son of a Dutch plantation owner, and the other the son of a servant. Inevitably, as they grow up, they grow estranged and it is not until years later that they meet again. It will be an explosive and emblematic meeting that marks them even more deeply than their childhood friendship did.

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Born into wealth and privilege, Rudolf Kerkhoven is destined to follow his father's footsteps into the Dutch colonies, with its uncleared jungle foothills and potential for riches. When he arrives in Java he is immediately smitten by the landscape and the life, and over the seasons, Rudolf's dedication and diligence gradually transform the land into a productive estate for tea, coffee and quinine. When he meets the independent-minded Jenny and their two sons are born, Rudolf is happier than he thought possible. But for Jenny, the damp austerity of their home, her fertility, her father's secret, and the native spirits of the land grow to overshadow their marriage and the life they've strived for together. Lusciously atmospheric and masterfully drawn, this is an unforgettable story of aspiration, determination, rivalry and romance on a tropical plantation.

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