The novel is about the experiences of Dutch immigrants in Australia from the 1950s to the ’80s. The themes in this novel include immigration, identity, indigenous issues, the White Australia policy, women’s friendships, marriage, and same sex relationships.
This is the blurb of the book: In 1952 Anneke van Beek leaves the Netherlands, her friends and everything familiar to her, to immigrate to Australia with her husband and two-year-old daughter. They settle in a small Queensland town and while Maarten van Beek is eager to assimilate, Anneke is very homesick.
The couple is young, and their marriage tested several times. Anneke is torn between her ingrained beliefs and desires to find her real self. Although the number of immigrants had drastically reduced compared to the post-war period, in the 1970s there were still thousands of Dutch people trying to immigrate to Australia. Joselijn’s husband, Alexander Kortebroek is Indisch. Born in Netherlands East Indies, he is part European and part Asian. Will his skin colour prevent him from being accepted into Australia? In 1981 Xamira and Karen, another Dutch couple, arrive in Australia in search of answers. Will the secret they discover be disastrous for the van Beeks?
