Dutch fiction in translation

Cover image for Breakwater by Marijke Schermer (transl. Liz Waters)

Breakwater by Marijke Schermer (transl. Liz Waters): ‘Everything is going to be fine’

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Early last year I read Marijke Schermer’s quietly powerful Love, If That’s What It Is about the breakdown of a long marriage. I hadn’t twigged that it was her debut otherwise I might have been nervous about second novel syndrome when I spotted Breakwater on NetGalley. Like her first. Schermer’s new novel explores a marriage, […]

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Cover image for Love, If That's What it is by Marjke Schermer

Love, If That’s What It Is by Marijke Schermer (transl. Hester Velmans): One size does not fit all

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I’m a sucker for novels about long term relationships, the complicated kind rather than the reasonably straightforward happy ones although they, too, have their turbulent moments. Marijke Schermer’s Love, If That’s What It Is looked right up that particular alley with its story of the breakdown of Terri and David’s 25-year marriage, told from the

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Cover image for Freetown by Otto de Kat

Freetown by Otto de Kat (transl. Laura Watkinson): Chasing the past

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When I spotted Freetown in the schedules, I put up my hand straight away. I’d come across Otto de Kat’s name several times, registering that he was probably an author whose writing would appeal, but somehow never getting around to reading anything by him. This beautiful, contemplative novella explores the lives and memories of Maria

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An Untouched House by Willem Frederik Hermans (transl. David Colmer): The folly of war

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If you want an introduction to literature from around the world, much of it hardly known to English speakers but often celebrated in its country of origin, you might like to keep an eye on Pushkin Press’s list. Willem Frederik Hermans’ An Untouched House is a fine example. Set towards the end of the Second

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