Description
Mary Mapes Dodge is a popular American writer who published many successful childrens books. This novel depicts the everyday life in the Netherlands in the 19th century and introduces a poor but gentle boy who will change the destiny of several people. The novel was published in 1865. Although Dodge had never been to the Netherlands, she managed to gather a lot of materials and study the everyday life in the country. The full novel name Hans Brink, or the Silver Skates: a Story of Life in Holland does not only intend to give an accurate portrayal of everyday life in that distant country, but also tap into the human soul and explore the desires of an ordinary boy. The story follows the main protagonist, Hans Brinker, who belongs to a poor family. His father is seriously ill and an amnesiac. In addition to not being able to work, he also proves to be difficult for the family. Hans and his sister Gretel are dreaming to participate in that years speed skating competition which would take place in December. The prize is a pair of silver skates, hence the title of the novel. Unfortunately, they do not hope to win anything with their home made wooden skates. The situation of the family only gets worse as both the mother and the children need to work to keep the family floating. They also call a doctor to diagnose the problem of their father only to learn that he needs to undergo an expensive operation to recover from increased brain pressure. The doctor is also gruff and not really cooperative. Eventually, Hans pulls his saved money he had planned to use to buy better skates so that he can save his father, the doctor performs the operation for free, and things start to look better for the family. Readers should definitely check out Hans Brinker and see if the two children manage to win the December speed skating race or not.