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Age 10+
SYNOPSIS
Brechtje
This story takes place in the first quarter of the 17th century, when Sir Walter Raleigh's lyrical reports on his travels to the West set off fever among explorers. Brechtje makes her way through the perils of the period, confronting the slave trade and the exploitation of the Indian Peoples in South America. Many details are authentic.
Brechtje is a 15 year old falconer's daughter. When her father threatens to marry her off or - worse yet - to place her in a convent, Brechtje is determined to run away to where he can't find her. Disguised as a sailors boy she boards a ship for Guyana, in South America. She learns quickly enough that the exploration of the new realms is little more than the frantic search for gold by the English, Spanish an her own Dutch people.
The real target is the legendary lake of the guilded man, El Dorado. The Dutch soldiers and shipmates are preparing to enter the interior of Guyana, following the description in Sir Walter Raleigh's reports and their own secret maps.
Brechtje, claiming that she can use weapons, experiences the hardships of the jungle and loses some of her best friends. Then she meets new people that she never knew existed. Living with this tribe she learns a lot, in particular from Wayapuri, the boy who guides them to San Thomé. In this Spanish settlement a terrible fight takes place, in which the Dutch are mere outsiders. Brechtje and Wayapuri become good friends with Sir Walter Raleigh's cabin-boy Robin, who is looking for his lost father. Together they travel on, while the Dutch are still trying to find gold. Without hope Robin returns to England. Brechtje decides to outsmart her own people and stay with the Indian boy Wayapuri, who becomes her lover in the end.
The son of the Fire Spirit
According to his Indian tribe it is Guaiquiriquiri's destiny to follow the Fire Spirit. When he does find him, he devotes his life and all his skill to this godlike Woronai. During their journey to the sea, where foreign ships are reported, Guaiquiriquiri is troubled about losing Woronai, who has become almost a father to him.
The Fire Spirit turns out to be an ordinary man: the English sailor Warren Haigh, who once upon a time was lost in the jungle and who kept himself alive because of his gun-powder. Together they meet Sir Walter Raleigh on the English ships. Guaiquiriquiri's fears bring him to the edge of despair, but in the end he acknowledges his destination.
Robin
Robin returns to Sir Walter Raleigh, who is waiting on his ship, the Destiny, near Trinidad. Resuming his former activities as a cabin-boy, Robin meets a strange old man, Woronai (Warren Haigh), who turns out to be his long lost father and an Indian boy, called Guaiquiriquiri. Dreadful events follow - and the ships sail to England. During the journey Robin tries to reconcile himself with the idea of a father and this man Warren Haigh, feeling impelled to choose. In England he has to face new responsibilities: not only towards his family but also towards himself. The final blow of Sir Walter's execution deepens his acceptance of Warren Haigh.
'Psychologically well written, exciting stories (...)'
-NBD
'She carefully builds tension, the characters come to life, her style is smooth'
-Trouw
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Terra Lannoo, 2006, pp. 576, ISBN: 9789085681021, Price: 14,95 euro.
Consists of:
Brechtje
De zoon van de vuurgeest
Robin
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