God's Fool

"God's Fool" (1892) is a novel by Maarten Maartens, set in a fictional Dutch town. The novel's "hero", Elias Lossell, becomes deaf and blind from an accident when he is nine years old. The people around him can communicate with him by writing letters with a finger on the palm of his hand. Although communication is possible, mentally he always remains a boy of nine.

Thanks to a somewhat thoughtless testament, Elias becomes the rightful owner of a tea-merchant firm. His half-brothers, the twins Hendrik and Hubert, manage the firm on his behalf. Elias lives in a house of his own at the outskirts of the town, looked after by his old nurse, and occupies himself by growing flowers and helping the needy. A quarrel between the twins in Elias's house escalates into a murder, and the novel has an open ending after a twist.

The title is based on 1 Corinthians 3:19: "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." Elias Lossell, the principal person, may be a fool, but he has God's wisdom.©2017 Audioliterature (P)2017 Audioliterature