Set in the aftermath of the First World War, this is an extraordinary love story about the power of memory and imagination
Stefan Hertmans’ imaginative reconstruction of a damaged life across the tumultuous decades of the 20th century; a deeply moving portrayal of family, grief, love and war
He was born the son of a struggling church painter, who died young. Aged only 13, Urbain begins work in the inferno of an iron foundry. Then comes the Great War, and brutal frontline conflict that will haunt him all his days. Nor can he ever forget his great love, Maria Emelia, who dies tragically in the 1919 flu epidemic, soon after their wedding. The rest is not quite silence, but a second marriage with a sad secret at its heart, and the consolations found in art and painting.
Stefan Hertmans
About the Author
Stefan Hertmans is a prizewinning author of many works.
David McKay
About the Translator
Born and educated in the United States, David McKay is an award-winning translator of Dutch fiction and non-fictionOther nominated books by David McKay