(Verraad me niet)
Tessa De Loo
One day thirteen year old Michiel, living in the picturesque Dutch countryside, finds himself near the hut that a group of older boys use as a meeting point. He sees that one of them is his older brother Wolf, who is fired up and drunk. Michiel watches in horror as his brother violently attacks a man, encouraged by the rest of the group. That same evening Wolf forces him to keep silent about what he saw. Brothers don’t betray each other. But the victim ends up in a coma. What should Michiel do? What really is betrayal? In this incredibly tense and disturbing tale, Tessa de Loo pulls you effortlessly into the emotional world of a thirteen year old as, amongst fear and wonder, the boy discovers his conscience.
‘What Wolf, Michiel’s older brother, does one evening under the influence of alcohol is horrific. Michiel is really cut up about it, but Wolf asks him to keep quiet. Brothers don’t betray each other do they? What does a thirteen year old do in such circumstances? That is the question in Tessa de Loo’s fascinating novel DON’T BETRAY ME.’ Margriet
‘With her lastest novel Tessa de Loo has written a tense drama that takes place against a classic Dutch landscape: Life seems to pass by calmly and peacefully in a picturesque village on a river, until a group of youth commit a violent act out of pure boredom, with fatal consequences. A boy of thirteen, an unwilling witness to this event, flees in deep shock. His own brother is part of the group. That same evening his brother forces him to keep quiet about it, using the motto: brothers don’t betray each other. In this thrilling and disturbing tale the reader is drawn effortlessly into the emotional world of a thirteen year old boy, who between angst and astonishment discovers he has a conscience.’ Literair Nederland
‘Sometimes you come across a book that grips you from the very first moment. DON’T BETRAY ME, the new novel by Tessa de Loo is such a book. A magnificent story.’ Must Read (Moet Je Lezen)
Sales
- De Arbeiderspers NL
Material: Dutch edition