Jo Parfitt reviews Dutched Up!

Dutched Up!
Rocking the clogs expat style

by Expat Women Bloggers

I'd already connected with Olga Mecking on Facebook and knew she was a Polish writer based in the Netherlands. What I didn't know was that she had just co- edited and published an anthology of blogs written by expat mums living in the Netherlands. Olga runs her own blog, European Mama, while Lynn is an American who runs Nomad Mom Diary.

I love anthologies and this one attracted me more than most because I'd had this idea too, once, only I had never done anything about it. I mean, if you were looking for writers for your own anthology, surely the ideal contributors would be people with a track record for writing – bloggers. And surely they would also be already writing blogs with a focus that shared the theme of your book – being a foreign mum in the Netherlands?

So, with great writers like British Amanda van Mulligan, of Expat Life with a Double Buggy, Australian Renée Veldman-Tentori of Dutch-Australian and German Ute Limacher-Ribold of Expat Since Birth, Lynn and Olga had an impressive variety of proven writers in the talent pool.

Now, when I moved to the Netherlands myself, my kids were 13 and 14 years old, much older than the majority of the youngsters belonging to the book's bloggers. Further, unlike the most of the writers my husband is the same nationality as me. I opened the first page with sinking heart. What would I find of interest to me? Surely, I was not their 'ideal reader'? But then I spotted that the foreword was written by my friend, Robin Pascoe (it is this point that I must elaborate that I am lucky enough to have two friends with this name, and the foreword contributor is 'the other' one. The British one. The one who lives in Holland, has a Dutch husband and owns Dutch News). Robin is my age and with similarly aged children and, what's more, she claimed to have loved it.

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I turned the first page with lighter heart.

I loved it. I devoured every story. They were compelling, well-written and entertaining. What's more, they did resonate with me simply because I knew the Netherlands, its bikes, its quirks, its food, language and healthcare system.

I recommend this book to anyone who might be thinking of doing an expat anthology. I'm a grumpy and cynical old goat, jaded too, from reviewing too many mediocre books, but this one, I promise you, is a goodie.