Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem: Ironhead, or, Once A Young Lady

Four months into the marriage, when her dear husband is just beginning to get surly about her still-empty womb, she can slip out of their bed in the middle of the night — with every movement she makes, pausing to ensure that he’s still sound asleep — and she can put on his clothes. She can look in the mirror and like what she sees. She can sneak out of the house, and before dawn, visit the local baker’s scrawny son, who has just been drafted into the army, and offer to take his place.

As a soldier in the Grande Armée of Emperor Napoléon the First, Stance very quickly becomes beloved in her regiment. She survives rabid dogs, a duel, and a bullet to the head (thus earning her the title “Ironhead”). Vive l’Empereur!

Hot on Stance’s tail all the while is her younger brother Pieter (whom Stance not-so-lovingly refers to as “Pieter the Pious”), determined to bring Stance back home to Ghent where she belongs. The battlefield is no place for a young lady, after all.

This event is supported by Flanders Literature as part of their Flip Through Flanders programme