This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Zarina de Ruiter
As a child I was always immersed in a book, but more often than not it was written by a British author, such as Roald Dahl or Enid Blyton, not a Dutch one. There were a few notable exceptions though, and The Letter for the King (originally titled De brief voor de Koning) by Tonke Dragt was one of them. Steeped in adventure and fantastical places, it transported me with the flick of a page to an imaginative land filled with heroes, villains, and everything in between.
I'm always astounded when incredible novels not originally written in the English language are never translated for the foreign market, or if they are it takes many years to get there. The Letter for the King is an exemplary example of this, as it was originally published in the Netherlands in 1962, yet only received its English debut over half a century later in 2013. It is a shame that non-Dutch readers have been deprived of this children's classic for so long, but as it is a timeless story it will undoubtedly collect a whole new legion of fans that now have access to this incredible book.
Set in a fictional medieval land, 16-year old squire Tiuri is on the cusp of becoming a knight in the Kingdom of Dagonaut. All that is left for him to do is spend the night in perfect solitude in the local chapel with his fellow squires and the knighthood is his. However, in the middle of the night the sound of someone knocking ruptures through the silence within the chapel and when Tiuri against better judgment opens the door, he's given a sealed letter which he is told must be delivered to a black knight with a white shield as a matter of great urgency. Tiuri understand that it is of grave importance that he does as the stranger tells him and he sets off to find the knight to deliver the letter.
However, before Tiuri can deliver the letter, the knight in question is lured into an ambush by a black knight with a red shield and suddenly it is Tiuri's responsibility to deliver the letter to the King of Unauwen, who lives on the other side of the Great Mountains. Not only is Tiuri ill-equipped for the difficult road that lays ahead of him, the journey is filled with dangers around every corner as the people who stopped the black knight with the white shield from delivering the letter are now after Tiuri, and the squire doesn't know if those he meets along the way are friend or foe…I first read The Letter to the King when I was a 10 or 11 years old and despite having not revisited it in decades as soon as I opened the book, the Kingdoms of Dagonaut and Unauwen came back to me as if I'd once visited myself – and I don't just mean in my imagination. Tonke Dragt has build an incredible world for the story to take place in, one that is filled with quirky and interesting characters, exciting places such as The Rainbow River and the Wild Wood, and a damn good story to hold it all together.
The book is rooted in our medieval times yet mixed with fantastical elements and peculiar sounding names that elevate it above a purely historical novel to the kind of fiction that you can easily lose yourself in. It will also make you wish these faraway places were real as they are way more exciting than anything that has ever happened in our own world! Tiuri is a fantastic protagonist to carry the story; the focus may be on his mission to deliver the letter and the exciting adventure he goes on, but this is very much a coming-of-age novel of a simple squire growing up – and defying all odds to become a true hero in an epic tale that belongs amidst the literary greats in the fantasy genre.
The Letter for the King is a classic in the Netherlands for a reason, winning not only a slew of prestigious prizes (including book of the year in 1963), but remaining a firm favourite on children's and adult bookshelves 50 years on from publication. It's an incredibly captivating and intriguing adventure story that is just as engrossing reading it as an adult as it was when I first discovered the Kingdoms of Unauwen and Dagonaut as a far more impressionable child.
The sequel, The Secrets of the Wild Wood (Geheimen van het Wilde Woud), has just received its English publication debut – needless to say I am thrilled to return to Tiuri's world soon and discover what incredible adventures Tonke Dragt is sending our hero on next!