Jacob Katadreuffe lives mute with his mother, has no contact with his father who only works against him and wants to become a lawyer, at all costs.

In the 20's, in Netherlands, Jacob Willem Katadreuffe has just concluded the law school and has an argument with the High Court Enforcement Officer Dreverhaven at his office. Katadreuffe leaves the place covered in blood. On the next morning, he is arrested by the police for the murder of Dreverhaven. He claims that he is innocent and discloses the story of his life to the Chief of Police. His mother Joba was the maid at Dreverhaven. One night, she is raped by him and a couple of weeks later she learns that she is pregnant. Dreverhaven proposes to marry her but Joba quits her job and leaves his house. Along the years, Katadreuffe is bullied at school and called bastard by his mates and his mother never talks to him. One day, he is involved by other kids in a theft of bread and arrested by the police. When he calls his biological father to help him, Dreverhaven tells the police that he does not know who Katadreuffe is. The boy is intelligent and learns English reading a superseded and incomplete edition of encyclopedia that was left behind by the previous tenants of his apartment. Katadreuffe is also ambitious and asks for a job in a law office, where he becomes the protégé of his mentor De Gankelaar. Soon he falls in unrequited love with the secretary Lorna Te George Victor. Along the years, Dreverhaven uses his power to harm him. When he concluded his course, he decides to pay a visit to Dreverhaven to tell him that he has wined their dispute. May Katadreuffe have killed Dreverhaven?—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

J.W. Katadreuffe is the son of Joba Katadreuffe and A.B. Drevenhaven. Though fully neglected by Joba, Dreverhaven ensures the successful career of his son. Mostly unseen, though he sues his son a few times. The son Katadreuffe succeeds, but at great costs.—Klaas van Gend <[email protected]>

The police detain Jacob, a young lawyer, following a death. He tells his story in flashbacks. His parents are stubborn: his mother, whose name he takes, is mute with him and rejects offers of marriage from his father, Dreverhaven, a stern and imposing bailiff. Dreverhaven, for his part, will not acknowledge Jacob in public, save for legal ploys to keep Jacob impoverished. Jacob, first a debt-ridden office boy, rises through intelligence, hard work, and single-mindedness to become a lawyer. His success is tempered by his mother's silence, his misjudgment of a young woman's feelings, and his father's cold, fierce aggression. Is his father merely building Jacob's character?—<[email protected]>

A ruthless court bailiff is found dead, and a young lawyer is the prime suspect. Told in a series of flashbacks, Jacob Katadreuffe tells the tale leading to the events of his final confrontation with bailiff Dreverhaven. What unfolds is the man's life story ... of his strained relationship with his mother, of his strong desire to make a better life for himself (largely self-taught), of his obsession with his father, and the bizarre battle of wills with Dreverhaven.—[email protected]