ABOUT
THE BOOK

Twelve-year-old David lives with his mother and father above a toyshop in a small Dutch town. On the same day that the toy shop owner complains yet again that he can’t sell model aeroplane kits any longer because kids nowadays are too lazy to glue all the pieces together, David’s father – an engineer and ex WWII pilot – quits his job for the umpteenth time. A few hours later, his mother comes home, having left her job too.
So, David devises a plan – and before the day is over the whole family is at home, putting model aeroplanes together for the toyshop owner to sell. A long, rainy Dutch summer ensues, in which mother, father and son work alongside each other. They’ve never been so close, never felt so secure. Then one night, David hears his father’s voice, full of surprise, and the next morning there’s a visitor at the breakfast table, Humbert Coe, an old wartime friend. The unexpected arrival of this charming and worldly man revives old feelings of loyalty, love and hatred – and ensures that nothing will ever return to a perfect state again.