A twisty, slow-burn mystery set in Paris and the Netherlands that has become an international bestseller, now in English for the first time.In 1989, twenty-year-old Marie jumps at the chance to work as au pair in Paris—even though it means dropping out of her prestigious art program in the Netherlands. The city, the language, and the complicated French family she works for all quickly overshadow the turmoil and pain she'd been reckoning with in school. Even as her ...

A young woman is employed by a maid by a music publisher in Amsterdam, in the eighteenth century. She is confronted with his homosexuality and the penalties that follow on discovery.

An impressively entertaining tale about the frailty of human civilisation by the leading Flemish writer Peter Verhelst, now for the first time in English.Warning: This story is narrated by a gorilla. He is plucked from the jungle. He learns to chat and passes the ultimate test: a cocktail party. Eventually he is moved to an amusement park, where he acts in a play about the history of civilisation. But as the gorilla becomes increasingly aware of human frailties, he must choose betw...

Twelve amusing poems by the "queen of Dutch children's literature," paired with charming illustrations of reindeer houseguests, mischievous little girls, ever-singing tea kettles, and more.This delightful poetry collection offers children and the young at heart a refreshing, inventive look at the world from the well-known Dutch author Annie Schmidt. The rollicking poems tell the stories of such intriguing characters as Aunt Sue and Uncle Steve who nest up in a tree, animate...

Subversive, visual, and bold, Curaçao-born Dutch Radna Fabias’ explosive debut collection Habitus marks the entry of a genre-altering poet. Habitus is a collection full of thrilling sensory images, lines in turn grim and enchanting which move from the Caribbean island of Curaçao to the immigrant experience of the Netherlands. Fabias’ intrepid masterpiece explores issues of racism, neo-colonialism, poverty, and sexism with a heartbreaking rhythm and endless nuance....

When his twin brother dies in a car accident, Helmer is obliged to return to the small family farm. He resigns himself to taking over his brother's role and spending the rest of his days 'with his head under a cow'.After his old, worn-out father has been transferred upstairs, Helmer sets about furnishing the rest of the house according to his own minimal preferences. 'A double bed and a duvet', advises Ada, who lives next door, with a sly look. Then Riet appears, the woman once eng...

Simone Atangana Bekono's poems are vivid and arresting, with the feeling of letters or diary entries. In nine breath-taking streams of consciousness, the poet explore race, gender and sexuality, addressing the social stigmatization of race and gender and invoking empathy and human connection in a voice that is both confident and innovative.

In his first English-language collection, Dutch-Moroccan poet Mustafa Stitou marks his position as one of the most important poets of his generation. Two Half Faces collects work from across Stitou’s career as he grapples with a vital narrative of cultural friction and determines his position in a changing reality. Absurdity and seriousness go hand in hand in Stitou’s work; the anecdotal combines with the irreverent and the sublime to form a vibrant tension. Stitou brilliantly par...

The master of pulsing, post-modern poetic rhythms, Menno Wigman's reputation is assured as one of the Netherlands' leading poets. And as perhaps his country's most exciting poet in terms of form: "a craftsman who knows what he wants" in the words of poet Alfred Schaffer. Wigman's second collection won him the Netherlands' coveted Jan Campert prize.Menno Wigman's first full collection to be published in the UK in David Colmer's outstanding translation introduces English-language rea...

International Dublin Literary Award–winning Gerbrand Bakker gives voice to the visceral power of family ties in a novel brimming with Knausgaardian detailWhen his wife tells him she is pregnant, Cornelis packs his bags and boards a plane—a day later he is dead. Now grown, Simon roams the barbershop his father left him, honing razors and polishing mirrors in a shop marked FERMÉ. He sees his customers one by one, massaging scalps and shaving throats in an intimate, p...

**Even in our darkest moments, there is always the possibility of healing: a sensitive and sharply funny illustrated gift book about struggling with—and overcoming—depressionThe 2nd internationally bestselling book in Toon Tellegen's witty, philosophical series of animal fables about our mental health**One day, the cricket notices a strange feeling in his head: a heavy, unwavering feeling that won't go away. It’s a sensation he can’t shake off, no matter how hard h...

WINNER OF THE INDEPENDENT FOREIGN FICTION PRIZE'A wonderful novel. Wise and generous to a fault of all our human failings and frailties' Lloyd Jones, author of Mister PipA Dutch woman rents a remote farm in rural Wales. She says her name is Emilie. She has left her husband, having confessed to an affair.In Amsterdam, her stunned husband forms a strange partnership with a detective who agrees to help him trace her. They boar...