This is a novel about child abuse, its psychological and social causes, and its effect on the children who are at the receiving end. It is also a novel about self-discovery. Twelve-year-old Judith lives with her little brother Dennis and her emotionally unstable mother in a house in The Hague. She never knew her father, who walked out when she was still a baby. Dennis is the product of another brief liaison which has since broken down. Judith’s mother cannot cope with the traumas of her own loveless youth, and is haunted by the death of her younger brother who years ago fell through the ice and was drowned while she looked on helplessly. She is given to violent mood swings, which she takes out on Judith. She regularly beats the girl black and blue. Judith lives in constant fear but has never known things to be different. At school she is timid and lonely, and lies about what causes the frequent bruises on her arms and legs. Her teachers suspect something is wrong, but are unable to get to the heart of the matter.


Judith finds a friend in Michael, a schoolmate a couple of years older than herself. A slow learner due to his dyslexia, Michael has emotional problems of his own. He was brought up by a cold-hearted father who lost his son’s affection because he insisted on bringing up the boy in his own image. Michael now lives happily with his aunt and her family. His problem with his father solves itself when the father appears on the scene again and turns out to be a changed man, ready to start an altogether more rewarding relationship with his son.


Judith’s fortunes go from bad to worse when her mother suddenly decides to leave The Hague for Leiden. Following yet another savage beating, however, Judith takes her life into her own hands, packs her bags and boards a train back to The Hague and Michael’s house.


Briskly paced and spiced with lively dialogue, Bruises will appeal particularly to younger readers. The book invites identification with the main characters, whose problems are described from several different angles. The two youngsters’ growing self-awareness forms an additional theme. Both Judith and Michael discover their ability to be themselves and make their own decisions. At the end, both are on the verge of a new and more fulfilling life.

The silence in the house made Judith nervous. She kept looking up at the clock. Ten past five: forty-five minutes to go before her mother got home. Dennis was slumped in an armchair; he did’t feel like going to bed. Judith had tucked a blanket around him. She paced restlessly up and dowm the room. Should she get started on her homework?

She tried doing some math problems, but she was so tense, she couldn’t concentrate. Maybe she was worrying about nothing, she tried to tell herself. Maybe it was all a big misunderstanding. But if that were true, why was she so cold, and why were her palms to clammy?

Five-thirty... What if she did some vacuuming? It had to be done anyway, and it would drive away the ominous silence.

Judith went to the hall closet and took out the vacuum cleaner. Moments later the dull roar filled the living room. Her arms moved automatically, back and forth; her eyes were fixed on the ground. The steady drone filled her head, too, and gradually calmed her down. Nothing’s going to happen, she kept telling herself, nothing at all. (p. 82, tr. Stacey Knecht)