De Laatkomer or “The Latecomer” for the English translation by Dimitri Verhulst is a witty yet serious novel. Verhulst was born in Belgium on October 2nd, 1972 and published his first book Assevrijdag in 1994. By the time he published De Laatkomer, Verhulst had published 17 other novels, poetry collections and plays.

The summary for De Laatkomer said the following: a story of a man, Désiré, who is faking dementia because he wants his family to send him to a retirement home. Might we all be better off forgetting?

Why would anyone fake dementia? Can it be faked?

Désiré is a seventy-some married man with two children. He worked as a librarian but is now retired. He has a home and good health. His marriage, however, has Désiré very unhappy. His wife seems to have controlled his every move and choice, and seems to enjoy publicly shaming him (like when she offers viagra to her son-in-law because even though she convinced their huisarts to prescribe Désiré viagra, he refuses to take it). Désiré wants to enjoy his last few years away from his wife.

For some reason, divorce isn’t a choice for him, and Désiré decides to fake dementie or dementia. He plans out the development of his disease carefully. He begins showing signs of the illness by bringing the wrong things from the grocery store or forgetting where he was going. Eventually, he is stealing clothes from a store and taking trains across the country. His family realizes he has no cure and has him evaluated by a specialist. Désiré is able to trick the specialist as well and receives what he most wanted: a recommendation to be put in a retirement home.

Once in the facility, Désiré continues to fake the development of his disease. It seems he had carefully studied the disease because he gradually intensifies the symptoms. While in the home, Désiré meets a few interesting characters. There is Rosa Rozendaal, a girl Désiré liked when he was young. He was never able to make a move on her. While in the home, Désiré makes it a point to frequent the community activities Rosa does hoping she will remember him. Walter De Bodt or Camp Commandant Alzheimer, as Désiré calls him, was a collaborator with the Nazis and says the most awful things. Désiré also meets another old man who seems to be doing exactly the same thing he is doing, and gives some pointers to Désiré as to how to better fake dementia.

But why does Désiré follow his plan all the way through? Is he really escaping his wife or is he trying to rekindle a childhood love flame? Or is he really escaping something else?

While the topic is very profound, Verhulst’s narrating style is quite the opposite. It seems the novel is a light read. His narration of some events, particularly Désiré’s attempts and bothering his wife, are very comical. Verhulst makes you laugh while at the same time telling you something terribly serious.

dementie– dementia
ouderdom– old age
bejaardentehuis– retirement home
vergeten– to forget
pensioen– retirement