Matthew Vandorne

Matthew Van Dorn, in fact, the writer of this book, was born and raised in Amsterdam, but on first sight, clear of tropical origin, son of a white, Dutch mother and a white Dutch stepfather, after his turbulent youth years, in the Amsterdam of the fifties and sixties, plus an early marriage, is becoming increasingly interested in his other, Indonesian, branch of origin. This true story shows many topics, from the present and the past, of his sometimes drifting confused life of sex, booze, and identity crisis. As a red thread through this story, the author writes about the mystery of the Indonesian biological father, who disappeared from his life and the experiences with his Dutch stepfather Jan, who unconditionally accepted him as his own son. His mother Rosa plays a crucial role, in the spiritual development of his life: A kind of a love-hate relationship. Or if Sigmund Freud would have judged: A disturbed mother/son relationship. (Oedipus complex). The story tells also how Matthew had to fight to survive in the backstreets of Amsterdam where he grew up in the early fifties. A few years after his marriage he became curious about his Indonesian branch of origin and decided to make a trip with a travel group through Indonesia to hopefully find something of his roots. This book deals in particular with that journey and the ups and downs of that travel company, with some flashbacks from his childhood as the second storyline. All in all a very readable book with many interesting topics about Holland and Indonesia, with here and there some humor and sex, indignation as well as a smile and a tear. Worth buying. Keywords: #TravelIndonesia, #FatherWhoAreYou, #FamilyProblems,