THE RHINO KEEPER SPOILER SERIES VOLUME 1: Douwemout van der Meer

Or is it Douwe Mout van der Meer?

The Rhino Keeper, an 18th century image of our main dude, and who he is in my head! (Vogue, 2012 for Eddie Redmayne image)

Welcome to SPOILER SERIES! A tell-all blog series that spills the beans on all of the characters in The Rhino Keeper. These will be super helpful for book clubs, readers, and anyone who loves TRK!

SPOILER ALERT: I’d probably read the book first before diving into these! Every single post will have major spoilers! But that’s the point. You’ll get my behind-the-scenes, historical research, development, Easter eggs, and more about The Rhino Keeper’s characters. If you choose to read on without reading TRK first….sorry!!

Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Rhino-Keeper-Jillian-Forsberg/dp/1963452038

My first Spoiler Series starts with The Rhino Keeper’s main character, Douwe.

The history:

Douwe Mout van der Meer was a Dutch sea captain. Born April 12, 1705 in Leiden, Holland to a family of sailors, Douwe started his career with the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC when he was just 15 years old.

Little is known about Douwe’s personal life or his adventures on the multiple ships he sailed on. But what we DO know is he was the captain of the Knappenhof and carried home a rhino called Clara in 1740.

He died in 1775. After 1758, after the death of Clara, very little is known of his life.

The Rhino Keeper character:

The first thing you need to know is his name! Hilariously enough, during the audiobook auditions for The Rhino Keeper, all 65 actors pronounced it differently. We settled on Dah-weh. Sadly I can’t go back to 1740 (no matter how badly I’d like to) and ask the man how to say his name.

In his signatures, sometimes it appears that the words Douwe and Mout are connected. My first and strongest resource for the world of The Rhino Keeper was Glynis Ridley’s CLARA’S GRAND TOUR, and throughout that work, she has Douwe’s name as Douwemout. As Glynis and I have become friends and are definitely the biggest Clara fans in the whole world, I chose to stick with her interpretation of Douwe’s name, shortening it to Douwe for his buddies.

Now the fun stuff. SPOILERS!

I hope you noticed right away that Douwe has a problem with commitment. It downright terrifies him, and he is a man who will let the wind take him wherever it wants to go.

Douwe’s love life dissected:

How many times was Douwe offered a relationship with a woman and said no thanks?!

*Johanna

Said no for Clara’s sake, which we love, but then when she reappears later in the book to his surprise, she distracts him so much that Clara ends up in danger. So his initial intuition to leave Johanna longing was the right one.

*Hirzet

UGH how I wanted a Hirzet-Douwe love story. I kind of wrote one, but Hirzet couldn’t contain the captain’s utter desire to take Clara onward. I love Hirzet, and Douwe definitely had a crush on her but did not know how to act on it. That’s ok, we love him anyway, don’t we!? Imagine how different The Rhino Keeper would have been if Douwe would have stayed at the Apollo tavern and he and Hirzet and Zubin would have been a happy little family. Alas, alack, Clara gets on the Knappenhof.

I’ve been toying with writing Hirzet’s story… tell me if you want me to. She was in Versailles!? She’s Scottish!? She owns a tavern in Calcutta!? Yipes that would be SO FUN. Why’d she leave her homeland!? Anyway, Douwe could have totally been a happy captain staying with her, but his own ambition took him onward.

*Lonnie/Lionel

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER.

Lonnie is the first woman to really capture Douwe’s heart and I think it’s because she’s so very different. He really was not made for the normal lady, as seen by his love of a 2-ton girlie named Clara. However, when Lonnie told HIM she was leaving…that struck something in the captain’s heart.

I think, too, seeing someone love Zubin as much as or more than he did, really propelled him into being close to Lonnie. But really, it was the denial of his attentions and the fact that she had other stuff to do than to follow him around that really struck him. And, as smart as Douwe was, he did NOT catch on to the fact that she was a woman, and a different kind of love evolved after she was hurt: one of responsibility to keep her and her secret safe.

I love her. She’s got her own post coming soon.

*Betsy & Clara

If we’re being honest Betsy and Clara are the loves of his life. Did you notice Betsy’s ancestors in the modern timeline of The Rhino Keeper!? I hope you did!

Ok so that’s the love part!

What about his motivations!? Douwe’s pretty selfish. He doesn’t understand the complications of his actions, especially when it comes to Clara, Zubin, and Lonnie’s well being. Heck, he even puts his entire crew at risk by bringing Clara on board the Knappenhof anyway. And instead of letting Clara chill in a field and make people come to her, he makes a giant trailer!? And traipses her around Europe!? Dude.

I wrote this based on history, so I couldn’t change that, but I also couldn’t change the fact that the man left behind no journals so understanding WHY he did these things was ultimately left up to me.

What I think!? That Douwe was so desperate to show this cool new animal to the world that he didn’t realize the ramifications of his actions until Zubin got sick. And THAT, combined with Clara’s debacle with the priest in Rome, really set him on a path of going home. He could not settle until the world literally FORCED him to do so.

But by then…it was too late, and the fates made their own decisions for him.

What did he look like?

I have a few images of him. I chose to change them.

Image: Douwemout (see how close it is!?) from a broadside in the 1750s.

Image: Eddie Redmayne from VOGUE, 2012

In my mind, Douwe looks like Eddie Redmayne. There, I said it. Auburn hair, freckles, strong from the sea. Whew!

What did he wear?

Sea stuff. Tricorne hats. 18th century breeches. Heck yeah.

What did he smell like?

Rhino. Sea salt. Probably something sweet.

Favorite food?

Brown bread and oranges (oh….wait that’s Clara)

Last thoughts on Douwe…

Y’know, he’s complicated. He makes such good decisions. And such bad decisions. Without his side kick, Zubin, I really wonder how well he’d have done with Clara…luckily he didn’t have to find that out, but I think he did his best with what knowledge he had, both real life Douwe and fictional Douwe.