The Discomfort of Evening: WINNER OF THE BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2020

Rijneveld, Marieke Lucas

£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.

Available on backorder

Publish Date: 24/09/2020

Description

*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

Additional information

Weight 229 g
Dimensions 198 × 129 × 17 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

282

Language

English

Edition

1st paperback ed

Dewey

839.3137 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K