Tuintjes

by C. M. van (Catharina Magdalena) Hille-Gaerthé

Tuintjes by C. M. van Hille-Gaerthé is a collection of short stories written in the early 20th century. The book delicately explores how gardens and small green places shape human feeling and connection—within marriages, among children, and across the final years of life. In the first story, a man’s devotion to his garden strains his marriage when his wife cuts his campanulas out of spite; yet a gentle evening—walking with their anxious child and sharing quiet tea—opens a path toward tenderness. The second follows a mother who dreams of a perfect future garden but, through her children’s messy plots, games, and the gift of a single sugared strawberry, learns to cherish the abundant life of the present. The last paints a springtime hofje where elderly women tend tiny beds, nurse old slights and friendships, and receive a visiting painter; beneath pear blossoms, small rituals and whispered sympathies glow, and the tale closes on a soft meditation about age, time, and who will live to see the fruit ripen.