READ IN DUTCH

In mijn zoektocht naar boeken voor mijn Nederlands literatuurexamen kwam ik ook Mevrouw Verona daalt de heuvel af tegen. Het was in eerste instantie niet het boek dat ik van Dimitri Verhulst zocht, maar ik heb deze toch meegenomen uit de bieb (was het enige boek van hem dat niet uitgeleend was) en ik heb er geen spijt van gehad.

Mevrouw Verona daalt de heuvel (waarop haar huis staat) af naar het dorpje aan de voet ervan in de wetenschap dat ze de kracht niet meer zal hebben de heuvel opnieuw op te klimmen. Mevrouw Verona neemt afscheid van het leven en denkt daarbij terug aan haar man, de liefde van haar leven en de geschiedenis van het dorpje, dat ook langzaam maar zeker uitsterft.

Ik vond het een mooi boekje. Het verhaal is niet erg lang, maar het is lang genoeg om het verhaal te vertellen. Mevrouw Verona is de spil tussen een heel aantal zeer korte verhalen uit het dorp. Het las lekker, de schrijfstijl was wel duidelijk Vlaams, maar dat vind ik vaak net wel leuk. Het is een boek waarmee je 's middags ergens lekker gaat zitten, en weer opstaat als je het uithebt. Dat kan ook prima, vanwege het feit dat het maar een ruime 100 pagina's lang is. Het heeft mij wel benieuwd gemaakt naar andere boeken van deze schrijver... ( )

As ever, I’m woefully behind with my reviews, having read this about two months ago! I seem to have rated it 4/5, but I can’t actually remember that much about it – and it was a library book so I can’t even dip into it to remind myself of it - oh dear! I remember that I enjoyed the very poetic writing. Essentially it’s a love story about Madame Verona and her husband – and how she copes after his death. The villagers expect her to become more involved in village life after his death, but she stays isolated, knowing that she has enough wood for the fire to last for the rest of her life. Once that wood runs out Madame Verona will come down the hill, but not until then.

It was originally written in Dutch (the author was born in Belgium) but I think the translation must do it justice, because, as I said, I found the writing to be lovely - apart from that I don't have much to add, sadly!
( )

Elegiacal and melancholy novella about grief, set on a mythic hill in a small mountain village where one woman's loyalty to the memory of love for her husband is recorded in small acts of devotion to the stray dogs who have always sought her out and to the memory of that rarest of things in life -- a soul mate.

At the same time, this is not a sad book; rather, it is a triumphant one in that Madame Verona wills and is able to dictate the time and place of her own last moments of life. She does not brood nor mope during her remaining span of years but she does honor what she had with her composer husband by finding ways to cultivate the memories of their happiness.

Two artists -- at least one of them was able to excel in the "art of dying." ( )

This is the tale of Madame Verona who lived with her beloved husband and collection of dogs in a remote cottage, beyond the forest, high above the village. Now, in this village, there is a distinct shortage of women. And when Madame Verona’s husband dies at a young age, the men start dreaming of the beautiful Madame coming down the hill. Only thing is, her husband foresaw his death and stocked up the wood for her fires, for years and years to come. So she has no need to come down the hill just yet.

This is a charming fable of enduring love told mostly from the perspective of an interesting motley of villagers sure to provide a series of chuckles. There is nothing profound about it. It is simple, and crafted with the lightest, most delightful touch. It is the perfect summer holiday read.

If the love of your life were to die while you were still young, how would you choose to live the remainder of your life?

Madame Verona, as she is known to the villagers, is not a native of the hamlet at the foot of the mountain. She and her husband have bought a remote house and surrounding woods because "'this is a house you could die in and it's a house you could be unhappy in. We'd be mad not to take it'". Deeply in love, the couple didn't realize how soon their off-hand remark would come to be.

When the abandoned were still lovers, they had sworn that they didn't want to live without each other, they had given each other power of attorney over the meaning of their existence and the disappearance of one would have cried out for the disappearance of the other. With the elderly that is often a natural process: if one drops dead, the other hurries to the grave without any extra effort on their part. But young adults are not yet capable of dying like swans; their hearts are able to bear grief...

For Madame Verona, who always has a stray dog at her heals, it is the dog's needs that keep her moving forward, step by step, "and so, before she knew it, Madame Verona had been drawn into living on for her allotted span."

The majority of the story is told from the perspective of members of the village. Vignettes of life in the little community are wonderfully pastoral and funny, and their interactions with and opinions of Madame Verona are simple and askew. The story moves between the villagers' perspective and Madame Verona's memories and present thoughts to create a pastiche that is charming but not cloying. Without melodrama, the author writes of love and grief and life in a way that encompasses the noble and the mundane.

Being from a small town myself, I couldn't help but chuckle at the oddities and tall tales of the villagers, and I loved the simple and sonorous language of the book. Often, I would read passages aloud and savor the sounds and images. In less than 150 pages, I was entertained and touched by the lives and loves of the characters. Warm and gentle, this novel was a wonderful holiday read. ( )