'Sla ons met medelijden' is a gripping, autobiographical novel about children growing up in an orthodox Protestant family. The father is straight forward and heavy-handed, the mother has an obsession with neatness. Both parents have a war history that carries over into their marriage. The three oldest boys in the family desperately search for an identity of their own that is regularly denied with a heavy hand.
The title of the novel is taken from a line of verse from the eighteenth-century rhyme of Psalm 6 verse 1: 'Sla mij met medelijden, gelijk een vader doet.'
Beat us with pity is for the readers of Jan Siebelink and Franca Treur and will not leave anyone indifferent.
'Possitive youth portrait of a child growing up in a heavily Reformed environment.
Very recognizable to me as someone who also grew up in these circles.'
Albert van Kooten,
bookseller in Veenendaal
'Oppressive bildungsroman in which Peter van Beek takes the reader along timeless themes such as faith, death and growing up in striking, image-rich language.'
Eline van der Boog,
Hebban reviewer
Peter van Beek:
Peter van Beek (1958) studied Dutch language and literature in Nijmegen. He is a teacher of Dutch in secondary education and has written children's books and thrillers. His crime novel Drift was nominated for the Crime Zone debut award in 2014.