Both “Daens”, the movie, and “Daens”, the musical, are based on the well-known book by Louis Paul Boon, who along with Hugo Claus is possibly the most important writer of post-war Flanders. Boon was a native of Aalst and a man of the people. In otherwords, he was no academic who produced his literature from an ivory tower. He was able, like no other, to keep his finger on the pulse of the common man. Boon’s writing is packed with true-to-life characters.Just as in most of his other books, forhis...