Ijzerkop

A fascinating historical novel by the Flemish author Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem set in 1808 in Ghent. Stans is a mouthy eighteen-year-old girl with a sanctimonius brother and an inventor with money problems as a father. The solution to these problems appears to be selling Stans on marriage to a rich money lender, but unhappy with her lack of freedom, she escapes and takes the place of conscript in Napoleon's army dressed in her hurband's clothes. Through an unforgettable character, the author brings topical issues such as gender and identity into an extremely convincing historical setting.