{"id":139353,"date":"2026-09-17T12:11:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T10:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/?p=139353"},"modified":"2026-09-17T12:11:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T10:11:37","slug":"zomers-bravoure-kan-meer-psychologie-gebruiken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/09\/zomers-bravoure-kan-meer-psychologie-gebruiken\/","title":{"rendered":"Zomers\u2019 bravado could do with a bit more psychology"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Yanaika Zomer, <em>Hermit Days<\/em> |  294 pp. | De Bezige Bij, \u20ac23.99<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Writer, poet and journalist Yanaika Zomer (46) made a big impression two years ago with her debut poetry collection <em>You still have 43 unread poems<\/em>. Now she has published her debut novel, <em>Hermit Days<\/em>, which centres on a woman whose life is turned upside down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meira, a 37-year-old lecturer in English literature, is happily married to the handsome Samuel, with whom she has two young children. Although Samuel and Meira have been together for over twenty years \u2013 they met following the death of her father, whom she lost when she was fifteen \u2013 they are still madly in love and have a wonderful sex life. Whilst Meira realises that her mother, Suze, is succumbing to early-onset dementia, she comes into contact with the artist Monk online. The purchase of one of his artworks is her first act in a \u2018delightful series of acts of rebellion\u2019. \u2018A hitherto unacknowledged desire to do something silly just once.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The online conversations between Meira and Monk, who also has a happy and loving family, offer Meira a daily escape from caring for her rapidly deteriorating mother and the fear that she herself might face the same fate. And, of course, it doesn\u2019t stop at just online contact. Her friend Keet is the only one who knows about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The story covers the seven days following Monk\u2019s sudden death, during which Meira is at a loss as to how to cope with her grief and has to pretend she has the flu. The year and a half during which Meira\u2019s affair and her mother\u2019s dementia unfold is told in flashback, with plenty of dialogue that is sometimes drawn out a little too long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zomer writes with flair and uses raw, direct metaphors, but the characters\u2019 psychology could have been more convincing. Of course, people do illogical things and not all of a character\u2019s behaviour needs to be explained, but that is a different matter from whether their behaviour comes across as believable.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yanaika Zomer, Heremietdagen | 294 p. | De Bezige Bij, \u20ac 23,99 Schrijver, dichter en journalist Yanaika Zomer (46) maakte twee jaar geleden indruk met haar po\u00ebziedebuut U heeft nog 43 ongelezen gedichten. Nu is er haar romandebuut, Heremietdagen, die draait om een vrouw wier bestaan op zijn grondvesten komt staan te schudden. De 37-jarige [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":330,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16518,4763,11687],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-139353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-literatuur-2","category-donatie-gevraagd","tag-recensie"],"featured_image_url":[],"post_author":"A Quattro Mani","assigned_categories":"featured, LITERAIR, WAARDEER &amp; DONEER!","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92057,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2023\/09\/nicole-kaandorp-wint-nk-poetry-slam-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":139353,"position":0},"title":"Nicole Kaandorp wins NK Poetry Slam 2023","author":"een van onze leden","date":"24 September 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Nicole Kaandorp has become Dutch Poetry Slam 2023 champion. After preliminary rounds across the country, eight poetry slammers competed in the 21st edition of the NK Poetry Slam on Saturday night 23 September, during the International Literature Festival Utrecht. Nicole competed in the final battle against Eelco Couvreur and...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;LITERAIR&quot;","block_context":{"text":"LITERAIR","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/literatuur-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nicole Kaandorp met de andere finalisten. Foto: Ilfu.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/a1d12127-305a-84aa-2921-a9a156d4e237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/a1d12127-305a-84aa-2921-a9a156d4e237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/a1d12127-305a-84aa-2921-a9a156d4e237.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/a1d12127-305a-84aa-2921-a9a156d4e237.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/a1d12127-305a-84aa-2921-a9a156d4e237.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/a1d12127-305a-84aa-2921-a9a156d4e237.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":94398,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2024\/06\/hku-en-theater-kikker-pakken-uit-zomers-cadeautje-voor-de-stad-kunststudenten-presenteren-hun-werk-in-glazen-containers-op-janskerkhof\/","url_meta":{"origin":139353,"position":1},"title":"HKU and Theatre Kikker unpack: Summer gift for the city - art students present their work in glass containers on Janskerkhof","author":"een van onze leden","date":"4 June 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"From Sunday 9 to Sunday 23 June, HKU and Theater Kikker will give the latest crop of young talent a stage in the middle of the city. In transparent KikkerKontainers found on Janskerkhof, opposite HKU Theatre, students will have the opportunity to present their work to the Utrecht audience. Come...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;PERSBERICHTEN&quot;","block_context":{"text":"PERSBERICHTEN","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/service\/persberichten\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kikkerhaku.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kikkerhaku.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kikkerhaku.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kikkerhaku.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51256,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2017\/06\/mirror-mirror-conny-janssen-danst-niet-missen\/","url_meta":{"origin":139353,"position":2},"title":"For this one moment, you won't want to miss MIRROR MIRROR by Conny Janssen Danst","author":"Ruben Brugman","date":"23 June 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Je kunt meerdere redenen bedenken om MIRROR MIRROR van Conny Janssen Danst in de RDM Onderzeebootloods te gaan zien. Maar er is er vooral een. Conny Janssen Danst is met MIRROR MIRROR terug in een voormalige onderzeebootloods in Rotterdam. Die loods ligt aan het water vlakbij de Rotterdamse Academie van\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Alleen voor leden&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Alleen voor leden","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/service\/members-only\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MIRROR MIRROR van Conny Janssen Danst","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/MIRROR-MIRROR-van-Conny-Janssen-Danst.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/MIRROR-MIRROR-van-Conny-Janssen-Danst.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/MIRROR-MIRROR-van-Conny-Janssen-Danst.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/MIRROR-MIRROR-van-Conny-Janssen-Danst.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/MIRROR-MIRROR-van-Conny-Janssen-Danst.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/MIRROR-MIRROR-van-Conny-Janssen-Danst.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":93153,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2024\/01\/het-godsbewijs-van-samuel-d-hunter-bij-theater-rotterdam-sinds-ik-vader-ben-moet-ik-hoopvol-zijn-ik-kan-niet-meer-cynisch-zijn\/","url_meta":{"origin":139353,"position":3},"title":"Samuel D. Hunter's Proof of God at Theatre Rotterdam: \"Since I'm a father, I have to be hopeful, I can't be cynical anymore.\"","author":"Wijbrand Schaap","date":"5 January 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\"When you put two blokes on stage in America, the audience expects them to either beat each other up or have sex. In this play, neither of those things happens, but in the theatre it\u2019s almost always about two men who are either fighting or having sex.\" Legendary words by Samuel D.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;PODIUMKUNST&quot;","block_context":{"text":"PODIUMKUNST","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/podiumkunst\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nagesprek in foyer TR8. Vlnr: Brecht de Backer, Samuel D. Hunter en Erik Whien. foto: Wijbrand Schaap","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20240104_220110-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20240104_220110-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20240104_220110-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20240104_220110-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20240104_220110-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20240104_220110-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101187,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/04\/a-case-for-the-existence-of-god-bekroonde-voorstelling-over-hoop-en-vaderschap-keert-terug-in-de-theaters\/","url_meta":{"origin":139353,"position":4},"title":"A Case for the Existence of God: Award-winning show about hope and fatherhood returns to theatres","author":"een van onze leden","date":"13 April 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Director Erik Whien's acclaimed production A Case for the Existence of God will be seen again in theatres in the Netherlands and Belgium from 12 May to 13 June. The production was unanimously praised by the press and selected for both the Nederlands Theater Festival and...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;PERSBERICHTEN&quot;","block_context":{"text":"PERSBERICHTEN","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/service\/persberichten\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/A-Case-for-the-Existence-of-God-Theater-Rotterdam-Thomas-Fjodor-c-Mark-Bolk-1-.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/A-Case-for-the-Existence-of-God-Theater-Rotterdam-Thomas-Fjodor-c-Mark-Bolk-1-.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/A-Case-for-the-Existence-of-God-Theater-Rotterdam-Thomas-Fjodor-c-Mark-Bolk-1-.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14676,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2014\/01\/antjie-krog-en-andries-samuel-rijden-een-tractor-je-hart-wu14\/","url_meta":{"origin":139353,"position":5},"title":"Antjie Krog and Andries Samuel drive a tractor over your heart #WU14","author":"Dani\u00ebl Bertina","date":"19 January 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Of course she can write!\" the mother of the acclaimed South African poet Antjie Krog is said to have exclaimed once. \"After all, I can do it too, can\u2019t I? There\u2019s nothing special about it.\" The apple doesn\u2019t fall far from the tree, and that\u2019s true of Krog too. After a ten-year career as a successful architect \u2013 whilst secretly honing her craft with words \u2013\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ACTUEEL&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ACTUEEL","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/nieuws\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/IMG_3724.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/IMG_3724.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/IMG_3724.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/IMG_3724.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/IMG_3724.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/IMG_3724.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3yKke-AfD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/330"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139354,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139353\/revisions\/139354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}