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Dorinde van Oort – Woman in the ShadeA story about family secrets with universal appeal; you'll never look at old photograph albumsin the same way again. Woman in the Shade is a work of faction telling the story of theauthor's step grandmother, Annetje Beets, an attractive midwife who lived to be a hundred.She didn't make a name for herself, wasn't famous and achieved nothing spectacular enoughto write a book about. She lived in the shadow of people who were larger than herself.However, Beets’ life history is special precisely because she seemed such a normal,unremarkable person.Rights sold to:Germany, DTVENGLISH SAMPLETRANSLATION AVAILABLEDorinde van Oort has novelized Beets’ life story and intertwines it with her own search forthe truth. Twenty years ago, after her elderly relative's funeral, the author came across someintriguing papers and became interested in the mysterious past of our central characterwho'd left behind deliberate notes and clues for her family which suggested there had beenmore to her life than had met the eye.Gradually over many years and after much research, van Oort finally got to the bottom ofwhat turned out to be a surprising story. Annetje Beets was indeed not what she seemed: notonly did she have an illegitimate child with a leading politician of the time, she then had along term illicit affair with the child's grandfather, accepted bribes and even went on tocommit an attempted murder. Yet far from being a villain, van Oort brings to life a strong,capable and ambitious woman, struggling within the social constraints of her time.‘Woman in the Shade reads like a thriller. But besides thrilling, the book is the tragic history of a woman without much gripon her life.’ – de Volkskrant‘Like a true detective she unravels her family’s secrets. You want to keep on reading, till deep in the night, till the book isfinished. Because it is beautiful.’ – Vrij NederlandAuthor: Dorinde van OortTitle: Woman in the Shade (fiction)Original title: Vrouw in de schaduwPublished: 2006Size: 278 pages / 83.000 words