It was the particular misfortune of the Dutch colonialists, many of whom were after all born in the Indies, as they were then called, to be dispossessed not once, but twice: first by Japanese and then, having survived occupation, by the new Republic of Indonesian only shortly thereafter. And a Holland that had itself been occupied during the War was not always the most welcoming of its repatriated citizens. The father in REPATRIATED, "Mr Java" as he is somewhat disparagingly known throughout, is never able to adjust to life in Holland, worries incessantly about the coming thermonuclear war (the novel is set in the 50s), extravagantly attached to what he calls "colonial manners" (his state assistance is cut dues to habit of taking coffee daily at the most expensive hotel in town), embittered at the loss of his home (Sukarno is known as "Monkey"), often unhinged, with eccentric views about everything from horses to penmanship. His son, the only true link between the two adults, and through whose eyes we see most of the story, is torn between love, fear and bewilderment, and -- perhaps without the reserves of fortitude engendered by surviving Japanese occupation -- is never really able to cope.

One never really knows with translated works, but if the translation has kept the flavour of the original, Van Dis has an extraordinary sense of pacing: REPATRIATED, written in the present tense, uses words with a rhythm which swings from staccato to syncopation to, occasionally, tropical languor.