Elisabeth Hesemans

Joy was abandoned as a baby and grew up in foster care. All her hopes for happiness are pinned on reconnecting with her biological mother. As her friend Denise is about to give birth, Joy becomes obsessed with finding her own mother. During this intense search, she learns more about herself and ultimately makes a radical decision.

1888: a luthier, Vedder, has to step aside when his home, opposite the recently completed Central Station in Amsterdam, must yield for the planned Victoria Hotel. His cousin Anijs, pharmacist in the Northern provinces of the Netherlands, has gotten into a fix after illegal medical practices, and is looking for a way out. For himself and his wife Martha, but also for a colony of poor peat cutters.