(Een Bed In De Hemel)
Tessa De Loo
‘Yesterday I buried my father. Now I’m in the Astoria Hotel at Kossuth Lajos, utca number 19-21. I am lying in bed with his son.’
A story that spans multiple decades, A Bed in Heaven is narrated by Kata and follows her and her Jewish relatives in Budapest and Amsterdam. Jeno, Kata’s father, escaped death during the Holocaust when a Dutch woman hid him in her house. Consequently, he falls in love with his rescuer, but she forces him to watch helplessly as she has sex with a Nazi soldier. After the war, Jeno leaves the woman, not knowing that she was pregnant with a child whose paternity the novel leaves uncertain. Years later, the child, now fully grown, meets Kata, his possible half-sister, and both are strangely attracted to each other. A sublime tale of objectionable desire, of love and of guilt, A Bed in Heaven is dramatic and haunting, forcing readers to question the basis of their own morality. Exquisite.
‘A consummate dramatization of the impenetrable mysteriousness of other people’s lives: convincing proof that de Loo is one of Europe’s most accomplished novelists.’ Kirkus Review
‘One of the most extraordinary and haunting novels I have read… Part thriller, part poignant dramatic poem, it lingers disturbingly in the memory.’ David Lister, Books of the Year, the Independent
‘An intriguing smoking gun… complete with simmering and forbidden sexual passion.’ Sunday Times
‘…a virtuoso performance.’ Publishers’ Weekly
‘A very satisfying read. De Loo’s strength lies in conjuring up incidents succinctly, with a few telling images that develop a solid reality for the reader’ Jewish Chronicle
Sales
- De Arbeiderspers NL
- Carl Bertelsmann Germany
- Karisto Finland
- Eroika Czech Republic
- Sandesh Bangladesh
- Soho Press USA (reverted)
- Arcadia UK (reverted)
Material: finished copies (144pp), English text.