June

June 1969: everyone is gathered to welcome Queen Juliana, the boys and girls waving their flags. As the monarch is getting into her car to leave, little Hanne Kaan and her mother arrive late - the Queen strokes the little girl's cheek and regally offers Anna Kaan her hand. It would have been an unforgettable day of celebration if only the baker hadn't been running late with his deliveries and knocked down Hanne with his brand-new VW van. Years later, tending his sister's grave, Jan Kaan is overcome again with grief and silent fury. Isn't it finally time to get to the bottom of things? And why won't anyone explain to his little niece Dieke why grandma has been lying up in the hayloft for a day and a half, nursing a bottle of Advocaat and refusing to see anyone? June traces in spellbinding, tender detail how the ripples from one tragic incident spread through a community, a family and down the generations.


Genre: Literary Fiction