Annejet van der Zijl

It is and it isn't hard to understand why Sonny Boy is a best seller, and was chosen as the book of the year for the annual national week of reading. Obviously, the woke topic, of a white slave owner who owns a slave girl, secretely loves and marries her, shields her from injustice, and takes care of all their lives, is just the kind of thing that soothes the national consciousness in the year in which both the prime minister and the King have spoken of their intense regret in view of slavery and offered apologies.

Sonny Boy by the Dutch author Annejet van der Zijl belongs to the genre of creative non-fiction. Unfortunately, the author has apparently overlooked the adjective, and merely thought of writing a non-fictional biography. While her choice is interesting, her skill in handling the material is loathesome. The story lacks even the least creative skill. The writing style isn't much elevated above the level of a high school student writing an project assignment. The characters remain card board and the story fails to take off.

It is obvious that the success of this book is the fortuitious choice of topic, but stylistically this book is a disaster.… (mehr)

I passed on three other unread Kindle books before landing on this Freebie from months ago. I started around noon and read it straight through to finishing. I just could not stop reading, despite the rather dry writing style. The dry text ultimately makes the story simultaneously easier to read without too much gut-wrenching, but yet all the more powerful to reflect on. There is no emotional manipulation here, just an accounting of actions and consequences and how one thing leads to another- for good or for ill or somewhere both and in-between.… (mehr)