Hedwig's Journey by Frederik van Eeden

[Bernadette]

About Hedwig's Journey

Classic novel, an intriguing study of a woman’s mind that still rings true today.

read an excerpt

Outwardly, Hedwig is a typical girl growing up in a well-to-do family in a sleepy provincial town. Inwardly, she feels things very deeply and has a strong sense of self. She is very aware of her awakening sexuality and this confuses her. She finds a soul mate in Johan and they become great friends. When he falls in love with her she does not know how to handle it.

In an attempt to escape her own feelings, she rushes into marriage with Gerard, a respectable solicitor’s son. Gerard brings her the stability she needs but at too great a cost and Hedwig descends into a deep depression.

Fatally, Hedwig is sent to the seaside alone where she meets Ritsaart, a professional musician, who gives her the love she craves but none of the stability she needs. In spite of their great love affair, Ritsaart too, is unable to prevent depression taking possession of Hedwig again.

Hedwig stops fighting her demons and flees to London. Totally unequipped to face living in the metropolis alone she is taken advantage of and ends up penniless in Paris. Will she be able to put her life in order by making her own choices?


About Frederik van Eeden


Frederik van Eeden (1860 – 1932) was a novelist, dramatist, poet and critic. He also studied medicine and became involved in psychiatry. If this was not enough, he was also interested in reforming society and was a pacifist. He used this multi-faceted background beautifully in Hedwig’s Journey, a brilliant novel which provides a thoroughly interesting portrait of a young woman.


ISBN: 978-1-907320-04-0, 287 pages, £13.99 - Published by Holland Park Press

[Bernadette]

Lenz, thank you for your response, I don’t quite recognise Hedwig’s Journey in your comments so I recommend you read the book. You can order it from this page. By the way, the author, Frederik van Eeden, was one of the first doctors practising psychiatry as well as being a social reformer.