THE TEN THOUSAND THINGS

by Maria Dermout ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 25, 1957

From the Dutch, in a seemingly perfect translation by Rane Koningaberger, these stories of an island in the Moluccas (the spice islands), of a garden on a bay, of the ""old, the past, of the so-very-long ago"" have a still and timeless charm. There, in the isolation of her memories lives the ""lady of the Small Garden""- the last of an old Dutch planter's family- with her magic stones and her shells and her many curiosities, with the superstition of the tragedy of the three little girls whose neglected tombs lie on the edge of the garden said to be haunted, with her enduring grief for the loss of her only son- whether ""fallen honestly"" or murdered by a native ambush. Here too she keeps a vigil for others who have met sudden death on this island:- the old, rich Commissioner with his young Arab mistress-who proves to be his half-caste Chinese wife; the Professor known as ""Mister-only-half-crazy"" as he searches for local flora; the unfaithful Constance, stabbed by her husband with her lover's knife.... Fragile and fragmentary, these stories have a suggestive mystery which will recommend them to a special audience- perhaps that of Isak Dinesen.

Pub Date: Feb. 25, 1957

ISBN: 159017013X

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1957

Categories: FICTION