“Under the vast grey skies of the quiet autumn day lay ‘the street’, the main street of the small forgotten town in its isolation far behind the floodplains of the great river.” This is the opening sentence of the novel ‘De Straat’ (‘The Street’) by Dutch author Ina Boudier Bakker. The book not only describes life in Vianen in the 1920s, but was also written in Vianen.
Klaziena “Ina” Boudier-Bakker was a famous Dutch writer. She was born i…
“Under the vast grey skies of the quiet autumn day lay ‘the street’, the main street of the small forgotten town in its isolation far behind the floodplains of the great river.” This is the opening sentence of the novel ‘De Straat’ (‘The Street’) by Dutch author Ina Boudier Bakker. The book not only describes life in Vianen in the 1920s, but was also written in Vianen.
Klaziena “Ina” Boudier-Bakker was a famous Dutch writer. She was born in Amsterdam in 1875 and is best known for ‘De Klop op de deur’ (The Knock on the Door’) from 1930, a novel that formed the basis for the 1970s TV series by the same name. In 1902, she married Henry Boudier, the director of PTT. The couple had to move often due to their work. For example, they lived in Utrecht, Aerdenhout and Groningen. Between 1917 and 1922, they lived in the upper floor of the building at Voorstraat 106 in Vianen. The post and telegraph office was situated on the ground floor between 1911 and 1975. In addition to a (temporary) place of residence, the musty atmosphere of Vianen with its narrow ‘small-urban patriciate’ provided a source of inspiration for the novels ‘Aan de overkant’ (‘On the other side’), ‘De moeders’ (‘The Mothers’) and ‘De Straat’ (‘The Street’). A memorial plaque on the façade of the monumental building is a reminder of Ina Boudier-Bakker’s stay in Vianen.
Further reading: Former cantonal court/Anduspand, Vianen Municipal Museum, Vianen town centre.
