The Gardens of Buitenzorg

He only ever knew his mother as a pastor’s wife in a traditional village in Holland. After his parents’ death, his aunt hands him the letters and photographs that her sister Olga had sent her from abroad. In tender, sensitive and tentative fashion, Brokken searches these letters for the woman who, during her life, had always remained a stranger to him. Who was she before becoming his mother? What inspired her, what did she think about?

Olga turns out to be much more liberated and idealistic than he remembers. She enjoyed learning foreign languages, had in-depth discussions with intellectuals and connected, by giving sewing lessons, with the women around her. Brokken, who has a number of wonderful books about music to his name, interweaves his journey with the life story of Lithuanian composer Leopold Godowsky, who fell under the spell of Indonesian gamelan music.