Writer and columnist Carl Friedman passed away. She died on Friday at the age of 67 in her hometown of Amsterdam after a sick bed, publishing house Van Oorschot reports.
Friedman, born Carolina Klop, became known for her debut, the novella Lattice father from 1991. Also the novel Two Suitcases Full (1993) was a success. The books focus on the consequences of World War II for Jewish survivors and their environment. Both books have been translated and filmed in several languages, the last one in 1998 by Jeroen Krabbé under the title Left Luggage.
Jewish origin?
In 2005, controversy arose about Friedman’s origin. Her books had created the impression at home and abroad that she had a Jewish background, but that turned out not to be the case. Her Catholic father had been in a German concentration camp.
She was blamed for never denying that she was Jewish in interviews. “Everything indicates that Friedman is in the grip of what is called ‘the desire to be Jewish'”, Joost Zwagerman wrote in NRC in early 2006. Friedman never responded to the allegations, but her authorship stalled and she barely published.
Besides narrative prose, Friedman wrote columns for Trouw and Vrij Nederland. For her entire oeuvre she received the E. du Perronprijs 2003 from the municipality of Tilburg and Tilburg University.
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