God's children: Josephine Clofullia

 

Josephine Clofullia was a famous "bearded lady" displayed in a travelling show by P. T. Barnum. She was born in a small Swiss village, apparently lived quiet and unremarkable life until her mother died - this was beginning of her involvement with travelling circuses. It was probably a sheer necessity as there were not many options for single women + she had a very unusual handicap that would always isolate her from the society, so the offer of businessman P. T. Barnum was probably the best thing that could happen to her. 

Long walks and discoveries: Vlooienburg

I have mentioned on this blog several times how much I enjoy my walks trough old historical centre of Amsterdam and how much I admire the beautiful old houses - however, the more I learn about it, the more I realise that a lot of the old town was totally demolished (for various reasons) and what has survived was a complete accident, because the whole streets and neighbourhoods were moved away to create space for new buildings. The understanding that historical area must be preserved did not really occur before 1970s - before that, quite a lot of beautiful old houses were simply gone forever. I have already mention the area of Kattenburg where the whole street disappeared, but how about the whole neighbourhood that was gone?

Recent visit to Stadsarchief where they had exposition "Déjà vu" reminded me that actual photographs still exist about the Jewish neighbourhood that once existed around what is now Watterlooplein with Opera House/City Hall. From what we know, it was one of the few artificial islands in the city centre and it was overcrowded with the poorest Jewish inhabitants - it was also close to local Synagogue that still stands there. It was one old photograph on that exhibition that fascinated me (a beautiful view on the whole island from the tower of Zuiderkerk) and the impression stayed with me until I did some research and found an excellent documentary called "Vlooienburg, the history of a Jewish quarter".

https://npo.nl/start/video/vlooienburg-de-geschiedenis-van-een-joodse-wijk

What a joy! Not as in joyful story but as in archaeological discovery - apparently I am not the only one interested in the old buildings and the history of the city - the documentary was everything I always wanted to know about the now disappeared neighbourhood. It explains that the whole area behind De Blauwbrug was originally Jewish and how these particular Jews were actually relatively well-off until refugees from other places around Europe started coming in, making it a overcrowded slum. (Later some of these families would move to a new neighbourhood in the South of Amsterdam called Transvaalbuurt which had beautiful new houses and spacious rooms, but it was far away from historical centre with Synagogue) There was a large number of Jews from Portugal's city Porto and everybody had to adapt to the rules and traditions of the new city. 

Vlooienburg was an artificial island of rectangular shape and it had four blocks with tightly squeezed houses next to each other - it housed around 7 000 people and it was a very poor area, as Jews were prohibited from most of the crafts and were only allowed several options, including diamond cutting. Where for centuries Amsterdam was a safe haven for all the Jews escaping dangers, pogroms and inquisitions, it all changed in WW2 when Germans occupied the country and eliminated 75 % of Amsterdam's Jews. Not only were the inhabitants all arrested, deported and murdered but the houses were also pillaged (for firewood) and left empty and demolished until the City Hall eventually decided to turn the whole area in the parking lot, than used it to built a new City Hall & Opera House there.

What we now call Waterlooplein with its Flea market, was in fact a totally different neighbourhood and there is absolutely nothing left of it (except old Moses and Aaron Church) - in the documentary, archeologists were digging in a cesspits left behind these demolished houses and discovering traces of food, pottery and cutlery that showed traces of imports from Portugal and other places. I ended up watching not one but two documentaries about history of Amsterdam and had a great time.

"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck (1937)

 

"The Shell Seekers" by Rosamunde Pilcher (1987)

 

This is something I had on my reading list forever and always knew that I might enjoy it, but it just needed a proper time. As previously noted on this blog, my attention span is now stolen by internet but apparently this year I am doing fine with my reading - not as much as before, but still healthy - so encouraged by this, I decided to bite the bullet. For the first time ever in my life, I was a bit alarmed with a sheer size of the pages (500+) and yes, the book could easily have been shorter but never mind. 

First thing first, Rosamunde Pilcher was in her 60s when she wrote the biggest success of her life. She was writing steadily from 1949. without any great fanfares but it was in 1987. when, encouraged by her publisher, she took his advice and started a novel that covers a family saga that follows its characters trough a lifetime. It was a smash and it made her universally beloved name at the age of 63. What made her so popular was the affection that she invested in her characters, her wit, charm, understanding how the family dynamics works and how the greed in the family can wound and separate people. Perhaps the main reason why "The Shell Seekers" was such a hit was that here was a British authoress stating plainly and clearly that its ok to put a foot down and stop your own children from exploiting you forever. They are your children and you might love them, but its healthy to take a step back and have some distance from them. 

The main character here is Penelope Keeling who, at the beginning of the novel lives alone and retired in  a small cottage with her grown -up children contacting her only occasionally, when it suits them. Since they are never available, Penelope focus her attention on people near her - her new gardener and young girl who was recently orphaned - which creates confusion and anger amongst her children who are obsessed with family inheritance and how much could be made out of selling paintings of Penelope's famous painter father. The book title comes from a painting painted by her father, which she refuses to sell and is hanging in her living room. 

I must admit that I was smitten from the start - enjoyed it very, very much and even read a chapter or two at my work - those 500 pages could perhaps could have been shorter but I cried, I laughed, I re-read some sentences again and overall felt a warm, fuzzy, feeling of pleasure when you encounter a really well written book. I don't care is this a women's book or not - guys are totally supporting characters here, mainly to do the physical work, drive the cars, make the babies - what was really good was how well Pilcher understands what goes behind closed doors in every family - micro drama in a micro world, the secrets, the anger, the frustration, the greed. 

I particularly loved this sentence (spoken by Penelope):

""I haven't sold the panels and I may never sell them, but if I do I shall keep everything for myself, because it is mine, and mine to do as I like with, and the greatest gift a parent can leave a child is that parent's own independence."