Hare with Amber Eyes

I am re-reading "The Hare with Amber Eyes", it is one of my favorite books.I think De Waal writes

in a very elegant style and the way he goes about tracking down his ancestors way of life through historical documents kept in Paris and London libraries, is lively and full of his excitement and perplexes at what their lifestyles must have been like in the 19th century. But he has also made me aware through his very thoughtful and sensitive descriptions of his own creation of  handcrafted , delicate pottery vessels, that perhaps my own creations of fabric are worthy of my own appreciation. Hence the photos of my cover for his book, in which I tried to convey the Japanese sense of faded and delicate imagery. It is also lovely to hold in my hands, the fabric so tactile and comforting.....I'm not sure a kindle would give you that same comforting sensation.

The other thing that gave me quite a jolt, was the fact that while the De Waal  forbears were being stripped of all their incredible wealth in Vienna in early 1938, I was being carried by my pregnant mother in Den Haag, Holland. My parents living a life of  incredible difficulty which caused my father to enlist in the Dutch army to have some sort of income to support his family. When war broke out he was taken prisoner of war and transported into a camp somewhere in Germany. My mother was not informed for weeks as to where her husband might have been. There was no support for her at all from anyone, certainly not the government nor the church to which they belonged and to which they gave unswerving loyalty till the end of their days. It astounds me now how loyal they remained to their chosen belief system and I admire them for their fortitude.
I have two netsuke a friend has given me and though I know they are reproductions, I love the delicacy with which they have been created, they are stunningly beautiful.....