Writersblog

Salomon Kroonenberg

Salomon Kroonenberg, Dutch writer

The Dutch programme at the International Book Fair in Beijing was cunn... >>> read more

Henk Pröpper

Henk Pröpper, Director Dutch Foundation for Literature

In two weeks’ time, the official opening of one of the largest b... >>> read more

Kai Kang

Kai Kang, Journalist China Reading Weekly

Dear Dutch publishers. The book fair is over. Perhaps you’ll now... >>> read more

Ingrid and Dieter Schubert

Ingrid and Dieter Schubert, Dutch illustrators

The days are full and long. We are incessantly bombarded with impressi... >>> read more

Michele Hutchison

Michele Hutchison, Editor De Arbeiderspers

Arriving on the stand on the first day, I’d asked a Chinese visi... >>> read more

Michele Hutchison

Michele Hutchison, Editor De Arbeiderspers

Big excitement today since we were finally meeting with Songyu from Fl... >>> read more

Ingrid and Dieter Schubert

Ingrid and Dieter Schubert, Dutch illustrators

It’s now the third day, and the first one with plenty of sun. Un... >>> read more

Kai Kang

Kai Kang, Journalist China Reading Weekly

What a great opportunity to learn about the Dutch literature for Chine... >>> read more

Salomon Kroonenberg

Salomon Kroonenberg, Dutch writer

A duck flies to and fro over the vast expanses of world ocean, despera... >>> read more

Michele Hutchison

Michele Hutchison, Editor De Arbeiderspers

‘In the era of browsing, we provide reading.’ - Slogan see... >>> read more

Michele Hutchison

Michele Hutchison, Editor De Arbeiderspers

The jewel in the crown of our collection of Arbeiderspers titles publi... >>> read more

Michele Hutchison

Michele Hutchison, Editor De Arbeiderspers

The Chinese publishers I have met during the course of my career, the ... >>> read more

Salomon Kroonenberg

Salomon Kroonenberg, Dutch writer

I have so far never been to a book fair. Nor do I know what to imagine... >>> read more

Kai Kang

Kai Kang, Journalist China Reading Weekly

Since 2006, I began writing about the Netherlands’ performance a... >>> read more

Henk Pröpper

Henk Pröpper, Director Dutch Foundation for Literature

Now that the fair is just round the corner, this is perhaps the moment... >>> read more

Michele Hutchison

Michele Hutchison, Editor De Arbeiderspers

The traffic in Beijing is horrendous, I’m sure the other blogger... >>> read more

Thomas Möhlmann

Thomas Möhlmann, Staff member Dutch Foundation for Literature

What an evening the poets and the approximately 200 onlookers present ... >>> read more


Gerbrand Bakker - The Detour

Gerbrand Bakker - The Detour

The natural world occupies a prominent place in Gerbrand Bakker’s still relatively small oeuvre. As a farmer’s son and now a horticulturalist, he has a detailed knowledge of the subject. In his work, nature is no romantic backdrop but a challenge that can be overcome only through hard work.

In the novel that brought Bakker international renown, The Twin, the central character is fated to take over the running of the family farm under the critical gaze of his aging father. The main character in The Detour is Agnes, a married woman who until recently taught at a university in Amsterdam.

She has opted for an isolated and harsh existence in the Welsh countryside. The reader, piecing together her reasons for making that choice, is held in suspense all the way to the dramatic dénouement. But by then everything from which Agnes has fled – a failed marriage, the mean-spirited revenge of an infatuated student that led to her dismissal, the results of medical tests – has come to seem relatively unimportant. At its heart The Detour is about a woman holding her own in an environment where people and nature are equally threatening. Only by taking a detour is she able to reconcile herself to her own mortality.

Biography

The appearance of The Twin in 2005 transformed Gerbrand Bakker into one of the Netherlands’ foremost literary figures. International recognition followed, culminating in the prestigious IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Bakker, who studied Dutch language and literature before turning to horticulture, made his debut in 1999 with a book for young adults called Pear Trees Blossom White. Following The Twin and June (2009), The Detour is his third adult novel.

Quotes

  • ‘A beautiful, convincing and understated novel, with a sparing simplicity and expressiveness reminiscent of J.M. Coetzee.’ – Trouw