Gouda Celebrates Books Alongside Cheese and Candles

In Gouda, Netherlands, Arjen Fortuin is highlighting books from street book boxes as part of a recurring feature, recently showcasing a 96-year-old satire by Henriëtte van Eyk. The book, De kleine parade, offers a biting commentary on the upper class through the story of Thea Wentinck, a young woman who writes to prevent her uncle from leaving his fortune to a communist poet.

Van Eyk’s novel, published in 1930, details Thea’s condescending observations of those beneath her social standing and her attempts to prove her ability to interact with the lower classes to win a bet. The author, who experienced financial hardship after her father’s bank failed, sharply and playfully critiques the culture she grew up in.

Literary critics note a connection between Van Eyk’s style and that of later Dutch writers like Fons J. van Dixthuis, Herman Koch, and Annie M.G. Schmidt. The rediscovery of this work adds another layer to Gouda’s identity as a city known for its cheese, candles, and literary heritage.