Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis

The novel opens in January in Haarlem, Holland. Corrie rejoices as she sees a rare, sunny day to celebrate the centennial of the watch shop her family runs. The reader learns much about Corrie in the opening chapter, including her lack of fashion sense, which she shuns in favor of practicality. She explains that, at 45 and unmarried, she lives in a home called the Beje with her father and sister, above the watch shop that the family owns.

All day, flowers and well-wishers fill the shop. One wealthy, though ugly, man, Pickwick, nicknamed by the Ten Boom women from the popular Dickens work, arrives to congratulate Casper Ten Boom. Despite the festivities, however, the household operates by its normal schedule, with breakfast followed by Bible reading for all family members and employees. The old clock repairman, Christoffels, arrives late and is...