My father is from Zeeland, a province of The Netherlands. This makes me half a Zeeuw. Twice a year the entire family gathers but we are the only ones who don’t live in Zeeland. My perspective on Zeeland is almost completely based on prejudices and stereotypes. The large majority of my family is deeply religious and therefore I imagine the entire population sitting in church on sundays. During the years I got to know more people from Zeeland with opposing stories. Arnemuiden (Erremu) is the worst. Riots at the football club, a marijuana plantation in the train station and guys with tattoos reading the name of their hometown. How could these two different stories exist in this small town?

 

J. Adriaanse wrote The Chronicles of Arnemuiden which document everything that happened in the village from 1695. I used this for the historic context in my book. His findings of drunks, betrayal and fights over power overshadow the pictures in the book like they do in the real world.