Clear the Decks
Pearce is a master chronicler. He writes with flair about what confuses people: progress, change, evolution.De Standaard
After the death of his mother in 2022, Joseph Pearce, author of several highly acclaimed novels in Flanders, decides to take stock of his life. The writer, who grew up in a loving family and amidst the bustle of a family-run wholesale business in colonial goods, struggles with his sexual orientation and, as the son of a Jewish German, feels a deep connection to the history of the Jewish people. In the Flanders of the 1950s and 1960s, this is no easy task.
An honest and moving self-examination in which he advocates for a hybrid identity.De Lage Landen
Confronted with a resurgence of antisemitism in a world rife with conflict, he advocates for nuance and mutual understanding. With a keen eye for seemingly insignificant details, as well as a firm grasp of historically significant narratives, he draws a self-portrait infused with Jewish self-mockery and an honest, critical, and layered view of ‘la Flandre profonde’.
As an eternal outsider, he has an even sharper eye for the often brutal reality.Doorbraak.be
