Hans van den Broek

Hans van den Broek is the main protagonist in Netherland, as well as the novel's narrator. He is a financial analyst for a large banking corporation, known only as "M—" in the novel, and he is extremely successful and well-paid for his work. However, outside of work he is a poor communicator with his wife and an inattentive observer of the world around him. He does not realize he has neglected his marriage until too late, and the main narrative of the novel follows Hans as he pieces back together his relationship with his wife.

Hans is of Dutch origin, having grown up in The Hague, a city in Holland in the Netherlands — hence the title of the book, Netherland, which also literally means "low land." His father died in a car accident when he was young (though O'Neill never reveals Hans' precise age at...