Library

Stories about death, money, law, and love in the Netherlands.

Each one fictional. Each one true.

16 chapters · ~186 minutes total

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All 16 stories

Ch. I · 12 min read

What actually happens when someone dies in the Netherlands

Anna · Amsterdam · 52

How Anna's father died in a care home, and what she had to learn in eight days that no one had ever taught her.

Ch. III · 12 min read

The money side of death

Maria · Rotterdam · 60

How Maria walked out of a Rotterdam bank unable to pay for her husband's funeral, and what one Saturday afternoon can prevent.

Ch. IV · 12 min read

Legal documents in plain language

Femke · Den Haag · 47

How Femke's best friend spent eleven weeks in legal silence with her partner in a coma, and what one document at the notaris could have changed.

Ch. VIII · 11 min read

The things only you know

Sophie · Tilburg · 42

How Sophie realised, in a café in Antwerp, that she was the household — and started writing it down.

Ch. XI · 12 min read

Work & Business

Sanne · Amsterdam · 49

How Sanne, a one-woman studio, realised her business was invisible to anyone but her.

Ch. V · 12 min read

Guide for your family

Otto · Breda · 58

How Otto built a folder nobody knew about, and the ordinary Sunday he finally walked his family through it.

Ch. IX · 12 min read

Telling people

Wout · Maastricht · 71

How Wout kept a cancer diagnosis secret for six weeks, and what his wife already knew.

Ch. X · 14 min read

For the Children

Saskia · Nijmegen · 41

How Saskia, a paediatric oncologist, made every mistake the literature warns against — and learned to stop.

Ch. II · 11 min read

My Farewell

Hendrik · Bergen (NH) · 64

How Hendrik watched his sister design her own farewell over eight months, and decided to design his own.

Ch. VI · 10 min read

Words That Stay

Joachim · Utrecht · 58

How Joachim found a sealed envelope in his estranged father's desk, and started writing his own letters.

Ch. VII · 13 min read

Your Story

Ruth · Haarlem · 78

How Ruth found eight pages of her mother's handwriting in a hatbox, and started a family conversation seventy-two years late.

Ch. XII · 10 min read

Making sure it all reaches the right person

Lotte · Rotterdam · 38

How Lotte found her father's folder six months too late, and what she now does each January with her mother.

Coming soon

Ch. XIII · 12 min read

Living with a diagnosis

Elena · Utrecht · 56

How Elena, a neurologist who had treated ALS patients for twenty years, found the disease in her own body — and used what she knew.

Coming soon

Ch. XIV · 10 min read

The last Tuesday afternoons

Marieke · Den Haag · 44

How Marieke, four weeks into home hospice, chose what to do with her last Tuesday afternoons.

Coming soon

Ch. XV · 11 min read

The date that was chosen

Theo · Schiermonnikoog · 78

How Theo set the date for his own death three weeks out, and what he wanted playing in the room.

Coming soon

Ch. XVI · 12 min read

The months you can still remember

Henk · Zwolle · 71

How Henk used the months he could still remember clearly to record everything he was afraid to forget.

Names and details have been changed to protect privacy. Composite characters drawn from real interviews with Dutch families.