IN THE EYES OF THE SON (Savant 2014) is a fictional novel about a man's struggle to create a place for himself. Like Peter, the protagonist, I spent years building a life that was sound and stable, while trying to achieve success in a field of uncertainties. What I went through since my youth in Holland became the inspiration for Peter's story.



Peter dreamt of life with a camera. His left-wing father, Eduard – a journalist and former WWII photographer – at first supports his son’s ambition and even gives him his wartime Leica. But when Peter tries to save someone from a fatal accident instead of "capturing the moment of violent death," Eduard decides that his son lacks the guts for "real" photography, the kind he practiced during the war, the only kind of photography "worthy of a man," even in peacetime, and he forces Peter into overseas banking instead.

Peter’s exotic career takes him from his native Holland to Singapore and on to Chicago where he marries a socialite. But his dream never dies, and at last he quits banking and leaves his wife and son to at last pursue that dream. He has a torrid affair with a bohemian artist, then dusts off his Leica, and in 1978, moves to a New York loft to embark on the life of a freelance photographer.

Two years later, with his savings running out, he has an unexpected a breakthrough: an exhibition on the provocative theme "White Poverty in Black New York." The show attracts an angry demonstration but is a critical success. Then, his estranged father, Eduard, arrives from Amsterdam to view his son’s work.

Then, during a terrible attack in Harlem, everything changes…

Sincerely,
Hans Brinckmann
Author of IN THE EYES OF THE SON (Savant 2014)