In 1808 Ghent, eighteen-year-old Constance runs away from an arranged marriage to a much older man and by stealing his clothes, sneaking out of the house disguised as a man, and joining Napoleon's army. For a young woman coming of age in the early 1800s, about all that's available to her is marriage. When Constance's parents arrange her a marriage with a man more than twice her age, she's powerless to resist. Four months into the marriage, she slips out of their bed in the middle of the night, and puts on his clothes. Sneaking out of the house before dawn, Stance visits the baker's scrawny son, who has just been drafted into the army, and offers to take his place. Hot on Stance's tail is her younger brother Pieter, determined to bring Stance back home to Ghent where she belongs. After all, the battlefield is no place for a young lady. -- adapted from jacket

Originally published in Dutch by Querido in 2020 under title: IJzerkop. Translation copyright 2022.