Anke: The Beginning

Living in the city of Mechelen, just south of once-prosperous Antwerp, in the aftermath of the Thirty Years' War, Anke Verhaegen, an ambitious nineteen-year-old woman, is determined to make the most of her life. By the mid-seventeenth century, after eighty years of rebellion, the United Provinces of the Netherlands to the north have broken off from the Spanish Empire to form the Dutch Republic. In the proces, the provinces to the south—including Antwerp, and Anke's home of Mechelen—are left in Spanish hands. Having spent a youth listening to stories of Antwerp's former glory, and struggling to get by despite the city's suffering trade, Anke is dissatisfied with the hand she has been dealt. When Anke begins to face pressure from both her father and her society, she decides that now is the time to make a move if she wishes to change her life. And, when her older brother Johan suggests crossing the Atlantic to New Netherland, Anke knows this to be her destiny. Together, the two Verhaegen siblings set about attempting to secure passage across the sea to the city of New Amsterdam. Before long, their plans are in motion, and hopes are high. Yet, with vengeful enemies, secret schemes, and danger on the high sea all waiting to be faced, will Anke really be able to secure a better life for herself in the "New World"?