Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 I was 45 years old, unmarried, and my waistline was long since vanished. But today, I thought, the maroon dress looked very smart. I was going to the party with Betsie, who was seven years older than me.

#2 I had loved to step into the customers' part of the shop with its glass case full of watches. It was still dark outside because the shutters had not been drawn back from the windows on the street. I unlocked the street door and stepped out into the Barteljorisstraat.

#3 The Dining Room was in the house at the rear, five steps higher than the shop but lower than Tante Jans's rooms. It had been Mama's chair, and the three aunts' places over there. I laid three plates on the table.

#4 We sat down to celebrate the anniversary of Mama's death. We looked back at the time when Mama was alive, and beyond. We remembered how she loved occasions and how she knew almost everyone in Haarlem.