£8.99
Jas lives with her devout farming family in the rural Netherlands. One winter’s day, her older brother joins an ice skating trip; resentful at being left alone, she makes a perverse plea to God; he never returns. As grief overwhelms the farm, Jas succumbs to a vortex of increasingly disturbing fantasies, watching her family disintegrate into a darkness that threatens to derail them all.
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*WINNER OF THE BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2020*
*ONE OF THE GUARDIAN’S BEST BOOKS OF 2020*
*A NYT CRITICS’ TOP BOOK OF 2020*
‘One of the best debut novels I have ever read. Shockingly good … A classic.’ Max Porter
‘Haunting . . . reminded me a lot of Iain Bank. It’s incredible that it’s a debut.’ Douglas Stuart
The sensational Dutch bestseller:
‘Exceptional’ (Financial Times)
‘Exhilarating’ (Independent)
‘Luminous’ (Observer)
‘Beautifully wild’ (Guardian)
‘An earthy and irreverent new voice, thrillingly uninhibited’ (New York Times)
I asked God if he please couldn’t take my brother Matthies instead of my rabbit. ‘Amen.’
Ten-year-old Jas has a unique way of experiencing her universe: the feeling of udder ointment on her skin as protection against harsh winters; the texture of green warts, like capers, on migrating toads; the sound of ‘blush words’ that aren’t in the Bible. But when a tragic accident ruptures the family, her curiosity warps into a vortex of increasingly disturbing fantasies – unlocking a darkness that threatens to derail them all.
A bestselling sensation in the Netherlands, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld’s radical debut novel is studded with images of wild, violent beauty: a world of language unlike any other, exquisitely captured in Michele Hutchison’s translation.
‘THE MOST TALKED ABOUT DEBUT NOVEL OF 2020 ALREADY’ [Dazed & Confused]
ONE OF VOGUE’S TOP FIVE DEBUTS OF 2020
ONE OF THE OBSERVER’S HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020
ONE OF THE GUARDIAN’S TOP TEN BEST NEW BOOKS IN TRANSLATION
Weight | 0.24 lbs |
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Dimensions | 19.8 × 12.9 × 1.7 in |
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Publisher | |
Imprint | |
Cover | Paperback |
Pages | 282 |
Language | English |
Edition | 1st paperback ed |
Dewey | 839.3137 (edition:23) |
Readership | General – Trade / Code: K |