Bitters bruid: Een koloniaal huwelijksdrama in de Gouden Eeuw

by Leonard Blussé, Leonard Blussé

Dutch

Genres: History, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Leonard Blussé (van Oud Alblas) is a Dutch historian concerned with the field of Asian-European relations. Blussé has a prolific written output in his field, having authored, co-authored or edited more than twenty books since 2000.

He was elected a member of Academia Europaea in 2010.

Reviews

[Michael Coles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sooooooo so boring.

[Jindřich Zapletal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a historical study of a protracted 17th century legal battle--a divorce between Johan, a Dutch judge arriving to Batavia to seek money, and Cornelia, a Dutch/Japanese rich widow in Batavia who fell for Johan's career. The author does spend some time on the background of these characters, especially in Cornelia's case this is a highly interesting story. However, it is the legal scheming of both parties (mainly Johan attempting to get Cornelia's money) and the response of the Batavia and mainland courts to them which is the main topic of the book.

It was the kind of family where at a family dinner the husband has a guard tasting the food first to test for poison, and likewise the wife will not drink wine from a pitcher brought by husband's slave. As all protracted divorces, it gets really bitter and unappetizing towards the end. Blussé is a classic of Dutch colonial studies, he researched the case up and down, and in the end, I did not want to know more of this misery.

There are some grossly unfair reviews here. It is true that most of the book concerns itself with the legal and other paper trail that Johan left behind--it was likely much thicker than that of Cornelia, and it is also this trail that offers insight into the transcontinental working of early colonial justice, the main point of the book. This is a book of history, not a drama where you evaluate balanced development of the main characters. As for some of the adjectives flying around, they are so far off the mark it does not even deserve any discussion.

[Dea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mid

[Joyce Bergvelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bitters Bruid gaat over de slepende, dertien jaar durende echtscheiding tussen jurist Joan Bitter en de half- Japanse erfgename Cornelia van Nijenrode. Een interessant non-fictie werk dat goed aantoont hoe de autoriteiten en samenleving in het zeventiende eeuwse Batavia omging met echtelieden die elkaar (bijna letterlijk) in de haren vlogen bij het uitvechten van de juridische en financiele kwesties rond hun scheiding. Zeer gedetailleerd. Jammer alleen dat je je als lezer door grote stukken citaten uit het oud-Hollands moet worstelen. Boeiend, maar dat maakt het wel wat minder leesbaar.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a very interesting true story at the heart of this book and I'm a devotee of microhistory. But this English translation has horrid cliches and colloquialisms on every single page -- just the sort of bad writing habits that I try to expunge from my students' work. And there's also a discomfiting undertone of a casual, wink-wink sort of sexism in the telling of the tale. I am so disappointed that I don't know whether I will even read the second half.

[Bart Hendrix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting portrait of the dutch settlement of Batavia at the end of the 17th century. Through the account of a failed marriage between an ambitious VOC servant and a rich widow from Batavia we learn more about the workings of the public institutions of Batavia.

[Emma Lai · Rating 4 out of 5]

English version:
Bitter Bonds, A Colonial Divorce Drama of the Seventeenth Century

Very interesting! How women were treated in days gone by just about beggars belief. A divorce drama that lasted 20 years as the woman fought to keep what was hers

[Jens · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great premise, laid out by the tabloid-y subtitle of this book, which unexpectedly dragged on and got lost in the details. We are able to witness this interesting story - a divorce case in a Dutch colony in today's Indonesia in the 1600s - because many of the original sources still exist: diaries, letters, court files, minutes of administrative meetings, proceedings, business records. They all shed light on particular aspects of these people's dispute.

That's great - it's just that unfortunately the narration style gets a lot too "historical" for my taste, adding too much detail where I would not have needed (or wanted) it. Lots and lots of background info about side "characters"* and their families, geographic origins, businesses, legal proceedings... and business, so much business. Did I mention the legal proceedings? At times I felt like in a legal drama on tv, but without the quick cuts and storytelling required to hold my attention. So I skimmed to some paragraphs, even chapters.

If you like legal dramas and the history of law, this might be the book for you! I could at least appreciate the author's impressive in-depth knowledge of the subject at hand.

* It's easy to forget those are real people that existed, not just characters in a novel!

[Lucky · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had mediocre expectations going into this historical work. The editing keep in mind. I was thoroughly disappointed. Focuses far too much on the husband's point of view, Cornelia to me seems far more of academic, historical and societal interest, yet recieves maybe half of what I even expected there to be.