First published 2023
Arthur Boers carries his earliest memory like a wound: his father hurling a potted plant at his mother, glass exploding through their window as she ducked for safety. Growing up in postwar Canada, Arthur watches his mother sweep up the fragments that day, not knowing he will spend years collecting the broken pieces of his own life. His Dutch immigrant parents work hard and hold fast to their Calvinist faith, but they cannot escape the violence that travels from father to son. The Nazi occupation of Holland left scars that cross generations, creating cycles of abuse his family refuses to name. Arthur struggles between love and fear as his relationship with his father grows more turbulent. He finds himself drawn to ministry, seeking a faith more mystical than the Reformed tradition that shaped his childhood. Arthur must choose whether to continue his family's silence or break free from the pattern of complicity that has defined generations.
Genres: historical-fiction, abuse, adult-fiction, biographical-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Canada, Holland, Netherlands
Period: Postwar, World War II
272 pages · Kindle Edition · Eerdmans
Content warnings: abuse, domestic-violence, emotional-abuse