Tipping the Balance by Huberta Hellendoorn
Posted: Friday Nov 03, 2023
Book Information and Reviews
Tipping the Balance was inspired by love for the author’s birth-place, Warnsveld in Gelderland’s De Achterhoek; the seasons, small farmlets with golden fields, the leafy lanes and rivers flowing slowly through the landscape. Jenneken’s life is shattered when she learns that her mother Alida’s knowledge and use of herbal remedies is considered to be witchcraft and that she must undergo a weighing trial in Oude- water. Jenneken fears also for her own safety as she has followed her mother’s teachings regarding the healing quality of flowers and herbs. Both mother and daughter experience persecution and after a horrific discovery realise that their lives are truly in danger. Their only option is to run for freedom. Where will they go? Will they survive?
Set at a time in history when women were persecuted for their knowledge and wisdom, Tipping the Balance is the entrancing story of the power of a mother and daughter to transcend injustice. Based on true occurrences and movingly written, this is a book which exposes ignorance but speaks also of the capacity of the human spirit to endure and to thrive.
Paddy Richardson (New Zealand)
Danger. Love. Courage. Two unconventional women.
A well-written, lively story, set in times when an accusation of witchcraft almost certainly meant a death sentence. A mother and daughter, both with the gift of healing using herbs, want nothing more than to help the suffering people who come to them. Suspicion falls on both. This is a powerful, affecting tale. I've never been to Holland, but the beautiful descriptions of landscape, plants, light, brought the place to life for me. Almost the land was a character, part of the brave, loving family who insist on being true to themselves. Highly recommended.
Carolyn McCurdie (New Zealand)
When I took a cursory look at the back cover, I was under the impression that this book was a historical biography. However, when I started reading at home, it quickly became clear to me that it is a historical novel, based on Aaltje Brouwers from Borculo, who was weighed to determine whether or not she was a witch, and later with a stone attached to her chained up in the Berkel was killed, because the villagers still doubted that she was not a witch.
The names have been changed, but these events have been used as a starting point for an interesting historical story. I especially like how Mrs Hellendoorn empathizes with the characters, especially daughter Jenneken. You see the story through her eyes, and I was surprised when I saw the author's date of birth. This means she will now be 85. To my knowledge, I have never seen a fiction book by an 85-year-old before; a special achievement, and if it hadn't been there I wouldn't have thought it for a moment. The book is a quick read, and you really feel like you are seeing the situation from the eyes of a younger person. It also gives an interesting picture of life at that time, with the battle between Catholics and Protestants, and life in a castle. The story gets more exciting as the book progresses, and I ended up reading it in three days. It may not be a literary masterpiece in terms of story and sentence structure, but that may not have been the author's intention given the target group (young adult), and of course she had to deal with a small amount of facts from which she could not deviate too far. In any case, I'm very impressed that someone managed to write this at this age, and enjoyed reading it!
It remains a separate part of history, the persecution of "witches" and how these women must have felt like hunted game. At the end of the book there is an English translation with the text from the Dutch book that she used to write this book. I'm curious if this is all that is mentioned in that book, probably yes. So a large part of the story is fictional, but plausible. The castle where Jenneken goes for a while could be the castle of Borculo, which was only demolished later, although all other names are fictitious.
Kay Wils (The Netherlands)
Huberta Hellendoorn was born in The Netherlands in 1937 and emigrated to New Zealand in 1960. Her articles have been published in Dutch and New Zealand publications, and her short stories have been broadcast on Radio New Zealand National and published in literary journals such as Sport and Takahe. Her poems have appeared in The Otago Daily Times.In 2009 Huberta published The Madonna in the Suitcase, a book about her daughter with Down syndrome which was adapted for radio and broadcast on National Radio. Her memoir, Astride a Fierce Wind, was published by Makaro Press in May 2017.