Brenda van Osch (b. 1972) is a journalist. After studying Political Science at the University of Amsterdam she worked ten years as an editor at the economic section of the weekly Elsevier. Since 2007 she writes freelance for several newspapers and magazines. In NRC Handelsblad she writes the weekly interview feature ‘Life Lessons’ on subjects like choices, pain and ambition. She is the mother of Eva and two sons.
(Balans, 2015, 256 pages)
When Eva, first-born child of Dutch journalist Brenda van Osch, came into the world ten weeks early, she weighed 680 grams, less than a bag of sugar. At birth she was ‘red and slightly translucent, like a newborn rabbit,’ as Van Osch writes, ‘both unfinished and perfect.’ For months Eva struggled for her life in hospital. Once she eventually came home it gradually became clear that her development was severely delayed. She went to live in a home for children with severe disabilities when she was six.
