Lier, Belgium Lier, Belgium Lier () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. It is composed of the city of Lier proper and the village of Koningshooikt. The city center is surrounded by the river "Nete", which also cuts through it. Per January 1, 2010 Lier had a total population of 33,930. The total area is 49.70 km² which amounts to a population density of 669 inhabitants per km². Lier is known for its beers (which include Caves), its patron saint St. Gummarus and "Lierse vlaaikes" cake. It is also home to the world head quarters of Van Hool,
The Sorrow of Belgium The Sorrow of Belgium The Sorrow of Belgium () is a major novel first published in 1983 by the Belgian author Hugo Claus (1929–2008). It is widely considered Claus' major work and "the most important Dutch-language novel of the twentieth century". "The Sorrow of Belgium" explores the childhood and youth of Louis Seynaeve, a Flemish schoolboy living in the region of Kortrijk during World War II when Belgium was under German occupation. The novel itself is a "bildungsroman" formed from two sections: The work was first published in an English translation by Arnold J. Pomerans in 1994. It was also