Book

Andreas Burnier

The Boys’ Hour

A novel about different ways of being excluded

The year is 1945. Simone has survived the war. To evade capture by the Germans, she had to go into hiding without her parents in a series of households, adapting to the lives of farmers, Calvinists, Catholics, social democrats, and intellectuals. But did she ever really fit in anywhere?

Simone is the eternal outsider. She is a girl who wishes she weren’t one, placed in the wrong body by the Creator: ‘Women and Jews – I hardly see a difference. They can’t retaliate; they’re always guilty.’ As the precocious Simone observes the often inexplicable behaviour of the children and adults around her, she cobbles together her own private world view.

The six chapters, unfolding in the reverse of a chronological order, show Simone’s attempts to break free of fixed patterns, through her short hair, her imagination and her physical activities. But when she goes swimming at a time reserved for boys, she exposes herself to humiliation and disgrace.

‘I tried to imagine how it would feel to have been born a boy. It wouldn’t come as a surprise. It would seem only natural that your body was perfectly fine, that you could play football, walk the streets at night and strike up conversations with girls, or swim during the boys’ hour.’

Translations

Andreas Burnier

Andreas Burnier (1931-2002) was born Catharina Irma Dessaur. She studied sociology, earned a doctorate and became a professor of social criminology. Her literary work includes novels and collections of short stories and essays.

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Details

Het jongensuur (1969). Fiction, 106 pages.
Words: 20,000

Themes: gender classic

Publications

Dutch Classics

Publisher

Atlas Contact

Prinsengracht 911-915
NL - 1017 KD Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 524 98 00
Fax: +31 20 627 68 51

E-mail:
[email protected]
Website:
http://www.atlascontact.nl

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