
Published: 24/09/2020

Exploring life in a restrictively religious home through the eyes of ten-year-old Jas, Rijneveld's International Booker Prize-winning debut carries its heavy themes with confidence, in wildly beautiful prose.
Winner of the International Booker Prize 2020
I asked God if he please couldn't take my brother Matthies instead of my rabbit. 'Amen.'
Ten-year-old Jas has a unique way of experiencing her universe: the feeling of udder ointment on her skin as protection against harsh winters; the texture of green warts, like capers, on migrating toads; the sound of 'blush words' that aren't in the Bible. But when a tragic accident ruptures the family, her curiosity warps into a vortex of increasingly disturbing fantasies - unlocking a darkness that threatens to derail them all.
A bestselling sensation in the Netherlands, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld's radical debut novel is studded with images of wild, violent beauty: a world of language unlike any other.
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 9780571349371
Number of pages: 288
Weight: 240 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 17 mm
Edition: Main
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Rijneveld’s prose combines the formality of ceremony with a startlingly uninhibited obsession over the bodily functions of animals and humans living in uneasy proximity to each other' - The Financial Times
You may also be interested in...

“A book that has made it's way to my top 10 reads!!”
‘I’ve discovered that there are two ways of losing your belief: some people lose God when they find themselves; some people lose God when they lose themselves.’
After the death of their eldest son Matthies, Jas’...
More
“International Booker prize winner 2020”
I didn’t think I’d like this one as much as I did, it certainly caught me by surprise.
It’s a fantastically written dark and very controversial story of a family’s loss, hardship and a disconnection from social...
More
“Disturbing...”
Disturbing, and not in a creepy horror way, I mean in a, " I didnt want those thoughts and images ever to enter my brain" way. The amazing writing and some of the best descriptions I've ever read did... More
Please sign in to write a review
Sign In / Register
Sign In
Download the Waterstones App
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?