Flight to Rome

A book by Janet van Heusden (#1389), born Adriana (Janet) Pellikaan.

Janet: "I was born on January 29 in Zwijndrecht. My father had a hairdresser's shop there in the Vondelstraat (red village). That was at a time when there were many small shops. On one side of the row of houses was the Sijp butcher, on the other side a grocery store, the size of the average bedroom today. Los cigar shop in the middle and my father next to the fire gate. I still have many memories of that. Only later were houses built at the back. We, two brothers and a sister, went to school at the bottom of the Ringdijk.

My father,Jan Pellikaan (#1387), came from a large family of 14 children. Almost all of them lived in Zwijndrecht. I must have a lot of nieces and nephews and even more second cousins.

We also lived in Dordrecht for a while. After I got married to Jan van Heusden, I moved to Breukelen. I must say, a wonderful place to live. I can thoroughly enjoy the beautiful area around the Vecht and the Loosdrechtseplassen area. But I still can't resist touring around Zwijndrecht every now and then. A lot has been added. In the past it was mainly the old village, clearly arranged. Now I have to search sometimes and sometimes I don't know where I am. But it keeps pulling.

Writing and the first book "Nica's second chance"

Sitting behind the geraniums is not for me, so I decided to start writing. Eighteen months ago I wrote my first novel “Nica's second chance”. Immediately afterwards I started a second book: “Flight to Rome”. The book is about Angela, a beautiful woman. She is 26 years old and has a narcissistic boyfriend. She is abused and eventually she flees. She only has her shoulder bag and some saved money with her. On the way, as she walks through the forest, she thinks that she wants to go far away. She takes the bus and train and ends up at Schiphol. There is one seat left on the plane going to Rome. She makes grateful use of it. She is confused and feels lonely. She walks desperately through the streets of Rome. Again and again an older man appears. Finally he speaks to her and says that she looks so much like his deceased wife. He is almost certain that Angela is his daughter. He is a painter. Angela feels a lot of sympathy for him and agrees to a DNA test. The result is surprising."

So far the story of Mrs. Janet van Heusden-Pellikaan, born in Zwijndrecht, and also lived in Dordrecht, before she moved to Breukelen.

Source: Zwijndrecht.net