Ina Boudier-Bakker

Ina Boudier-Bakker

Ina Boudier-Bakker (1960)
Born (1875-04-15)15 April 1875
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died 26 December 1966(1966-12-26) (aged 91)
Utrecht, Netherlands
Occupation writer
Nationality Dutch
Genre novels

Klaziena (Ina) Boudier-Bakker (Amsterdam, 15 April 1875 – Utrecht, 26 December 1966) was a Dutch writer of novels. Her most famous work is De klop op de deur (The knock on the door), written in 1930.

Biography

At age 27, Ina Bakker married Henry Boudier, director of the PTT. Because of his work they moved regularly – they lived for example in Utrecht, Vianen, Aerdenhout and Groningen. In 1929 they returned to Utrecht.

In 1902 she wrote her debut, the novella Machten (Powers), but she really captured her place among the great Dutch authors with her novel Armoede (Poverty), which she wrote in Utrecht between 1907 and 1909. Also in Utrecht, she wrote her best known book, De klop op de deur (The knock on the door), in 1930. This was adapted for television in 1970. During World War II she made a poem about every act of terrorism; shortly after the war, she recited these poems. After the war Boudier-Bakker's life was influenced by the illness of her husband and herself and by her husband's death in 1952. Unabashed, she wrote several more books, among which Finale (1957) that became a grand success. In 1963 Boudier-Bakker's received the Tollensprijs for her full oeuvre.

Work

When her extensive oeuvre should be classified in a genre, it would get the little respectful label "living room realism" or "women's novel". This latter type was whilom introduced by the critic Menno ter Braak for books published during the last days of the naturalism and which were usually written by female authors. In these books, the most pronounced naturalistic features were so weakened that a mostly easy to read, realistic story about the fortunes of a family remained. Herein much attention was paid to extensive detailed descriptions and psychological digressions. Ina Boudier-Bakker was, taking into account her nickname "Queen of the Dutch women's novel", a master in this area.

Although she is very widely read, the appreciation of the audience was not shared by the critics. About De Klop op de Deur (The Knock on the Door) once De Gids (The Guide, a Dutch cultural and literary magazine) published jokingly the shortest review: "Do not open!". Menno ter Braak put himself strongly against "the cozy living room of the psychological novel". In 1935 he further damaged Ina Boudier-Bakker's reputation by accusing her of plagiarism in her novel Vrouw Jacob. In the present time, there is not much appreciation for her work either – a contemporary literary historian qualified it as "just as abundant as uniform".

Bibliography

References

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