(Vogel Valt, Vogel Vliegt)
Mineke Schipper is a successful novelist as well as a writer of fascinating non-fiction books. Her most recent novel stars Laura and Daniel, both around 50 years old, both academics (he a professor of Classics, she a specialist in ancient cultures, in particular stories of Paradise), both in their own different ways beginning life anew. Daniel because he has never really lived and through his journey in the novel finds a way to leave his traumas behind. Laura because she finally breaks away from the memory of her dead husband, the great love of her life and famous war photographer Robert. Drawing powerful parallels between Vietnam and the war in Iraq (Daniel is a Vietnam veteran) this is a tale about love, loss, parting, new beginnings, lust for life, art and knowledge and stories to live by.
‘An absorbing story of the growth of adult love, and the letting go of past love, in the shadow of America’s imperial wars.’ J.M. Coetzee
‘A woman travels to the Mekong River to scatter the ashes of her beloved. On the way she befriends an American Vietnam veteran. A novel from the literature academic Mineke Schipper about letting go and starting again. Schipper made her mark recently with the award winning “Never marry a woman with big feet” (2004), a unique reference book with more than 15,000 humiliating proverbs about women from the whole world.’ NRC
‘A clear, subtly narrated novel about mourning.’ Trouw
Sales
- Prometheus NL
Material: finished copies of Dutch edition (256pp)