impending death. She confesses her transsexuality and shortly after the conversation, they sleep together. A friend of Abel's, Taeke, fuels the panic surrounding the photo book by suggesting that Lotte possesses magical powers. She supposedly let the silent power of goena-goena, a form of black magic from Indonesia, loose on the village. Soon after, Taeke jumps off a bridge and passes months later in the hospital. The narrator himself, seems unable to escape his fate of doom. When he tries to saw a colossal tree branch, he falls from the tree and almost hits the electrical saw. With death in front of his eyes his sexual relations with Sirena intensify, despite the fact that the woman's jealous boyfriend catches them in the act. The narrator has more problems. The government is working to control the widespread avian flu epidemic by putting down animals on a large scale, including backyard poultry. The narrator quickly hides six geese and an old stork. In the meantime, Lotte seems to have resurfaced. A flyer appears in the village, that seems to have been spread by Lotte, calling for donations for the victims in Atjeh. Many rich villagers donate money in the hope of averting Lotte's curse. When the narrator tries to saw tree roots, he gets stung by wasps. Normally he should have died since he is allergic to wasp stings, but he survives the incident. With this, the curse seems to have been lifted, especially when shortly after, Lotte appears in his courtyard. She has been forced to leave Indonesia and is afraid that the Indonesian secret service is targeting her. Just like the geese, Lotte gets to hide with the narrator. Background The book's motto: “Only delusion is given to all” by Xenophanes provides the tone of the novel. The world is ruled by the delusion of the day. The Twin Towers of the WTC in New York City were destroyed by terrorists, Atjeh deals with a civil war, millions of animals were slaughtered because of avian flu, but in Monward, people are worried about the magical powers of a photo book. The romance novel covers many delusions. Abel is convinced his children aren't his, Taeke believes Lotte to be an Indonesian witch. An innocent lizard gets the status of a dangerous snake and police officers hunt down geese with guns. In this romance novel, ’t Hart is able to blend reality