De Bezige Bij Foreign Rights Guide Frankfurt 2016

Foreign Rights Guide Frankfurt Book Fair 2016

Flanders & The Netherlands Guest of Honour 26 new titles in German in 2016, 25 of our authors at the Fair!

De Bezige Bij The Busy Bee

our authors present at the fair

foreign rights guide frankfurt book fair 2016 new literary fiction

Kees van Beijnum

Anneke Brassinga

Peter Buwalda

Bart Chabot

Stefan Hertmans Margriet de Moor Peter Terrin Marcel Möring Jeroen Olyslaegers Ernest van der Kwast Jan Cremer Mathijs Deen

The Convert Of Birds and People Yucca Eden will

The Miracle that Doesn’t Fall Down Odyssee. Fernweh Among People

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

new literary non-fiction Tinneke Beeckman Ruben Mersch Heleen Debruyne

Boris Dittrich

Thomas Heerma van Voss

Stefan Hertmans

Merlijn Kerkhof André Klukhuhn

Ernest van der Kwast

Alma Mathijsen

Margriet de Moor

Cees Nooteboom

Power and Powerlessness. In Defence of the Enlightenment Why Everyone is Always Right.

Opinions and the Reasons We Stick to Them.

Everything Begins with Bach.

What You Need to Know About Classical Music Light. The Dutch Republic as the Birthplace of the Enlightenment

18 20 22 24

new commercial fiction Donald Nolet Anita Terpstra Ross & Hartman

The Devil’s Handwriting Together Black Widow

26 28 30

new graphic novel Aart Taminiau Mark Schaevers

Allard Schröder

Herr Seele

Wool

32

Anita Terpstra

successful titles fiction

Peter Terrin

Miriam Van hee

Judith Vanistendael

David Van Reybrouck

Kees van Beijnum Daan Heerma van Voss Thomas Heerma van Voss A. F.Th. van der Heijden Allard Schröder Leon de Winter Tommy Wieringa

Sacrifice The Last War Stern The Morning Gift The Hydrographer Geronimo These Are the Names A Beautiful Young Wife

34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37

successful titles non-fiction

Paul Verhaeghe

Peter Verhelst

Frank Westerman

Tommy Wieringa

David Van Reybrouck Mark Schaevers Frank Westerman Paul Verhaeghe

Against Elections Organ Man A Word a Word Authority

37 38 38 39

successful titles commercial fiction Bart-Jan Kazemier

Drone

39

successful graphic novels T HO MA S R A P

Leon de Winter

C ARGO

Herr Seele - Kamagurka Judith Vanistendael

Cowboy Henk Mikel

40 40

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new literary fiction

International praise for War and Turpentine: ‘A book that seems to be aching to be called “Sebaldian” and earns the epithet glowlingly. War and Turpentine has all the markings of a future classic.’ – Author Neel Mukherjee in the guardian ‘The novel is wonderful, full of astonishingly vivid moments of powerful imagery. There are moving moments of mysterious beauty.’ – sunday times ‘A masterly book about memory, art, love and war.

In a world of novels with overdetermined, linear plotlines – their chapters like so many boxcars on a freight train – War and Turpentine delivers a blast of narrative fresh air.’

– new york times book review

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stefan hertmans (b. 1951) has published novels, short story collec­ tions, essays and poetry. In 1995 he was awarded the three-yearly Flemish Poetry Prize. For his novel War and Turpentine he was awarded the ako Literature Prize, the Flemish Cultural Award for Literature and the Inktaap Prize, awarded by students. The book will be published in at least fifteen territories.

Stefan Hertmans The Convert ‘It was if they could hear the loneliness of time itself.’

In a small town in Provence, France, the people have spoken of a pogrom and a hidden chest since time immemorial. At the end of nineteenth century a startling collection of Jewish documents was found in a synagogue in Cairo. It is here that Stefan Hertmans discovers the tra­ ces of a distinguished Christian noble­ woman of the eleventh century who abandons her life for the love of a Jewish boy. He follows in the footsteps of this woman as she flees with her forbidden love and undertakes a dizzying journey full of hardships, hunted by everyone and everything. Hertmans based the story of The Convert on historical facts, including a letter of recommendation written by a rabbi on parchment, and he brings the Middle Ages to life with immense imagination and stylistic inge­ nuity. It is a story that draws him into a chaotic world of passion, hate, love and death, and one that in the end carries him from Cairo back to the small village in Provence where he has made his home for decades.

World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Hanser Berlin (Germany), Marginesy (Poland) • Option publishers: Harvill Secker (uk), Text (anz), Pantheon (usa, Canada), Gallimard (France), Marsilio (Italy), ArtPeople (Denmark), Pax (Norway), Europa (Hungary), Fraktura (Croatia), Slovenia (Beletrina), Shorai-sha (Japan), Intertext (China) • English sample available • novel, 314 pages • October 2016 3

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new literary fiction

‘The writer knows exactly what she’s doing. She delivers information in measured doses, giving away just enough to enable the reader to place pieces of the puzzle. Of Birds and People is a beautiful, sensitive novel.’ – hp de tijd Press on The Kreutzer Sonata: ‘Musicality and a sense of passion.

There is life, love and pain on every page.’

– Michael Pye in the new york times Press on Mélodie d’amour ‘As Margriet de Moor tells us about the courtship rituals of her characters she sounds by turns controlled and demonic, natural and insane. Fascinating.’ – die welt

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margriet de moor (b. 1941) made her debut in 1988 with the short story collection Seen from Behind. It was followed by successful novels including First Grey, Then White, Then Blue, which won her the ako Literature Prize in 1992, The Virtuoso, The Kreuzer Sonata, The Storm, The Painter and the Girl and Mélodie d’amour. Her work has been translated into twenty-four languages.

Margriet de Moor Of Birds and People A fascinating narrative in which the lives of a dozen people fit together as if in a family saga.

One night a woman experiences the murder that during a malicious police interrogation she was persuaded she did in fact commit. The next morning she confesses. She is found guilty. Her con­ fession lies at the centre of a web of events in which the prime motive is murder most foul, with the absence of the sligh­ test hint of remorse. In the chapter ‘Bea­ ting her up was delightful’ Maria Lina avenges her mother. ‘Innocence’ shows us how the real murderer erased the mur­ der from her life on the day it occurred.

As so often in De Moor’s work, the tone of the novel is playful and serene and most of the characters live together lo­ vingly but without any ambition to fathom each other. One odd exception is Rinus, whose job is to chase birds away from Schiphol Airport. Although she has never told him so, he both knows and approves of the fact that his wife Marie Lina will eventually take full revenge.

World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Hanser Verlag (Germany) • English sample available • Featured title in 10 Books from Holland, the newsletter of the Dutch Foundation for Literature • novel, 251 pages • September 2016 5

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new literary fiction

‘Terrin opts brazenly for literature, which produces a great deal that is beautiful. Yucca is a fascinating game with identities, a novel impossible to race through.’

– nrc handelsblad

Peter Terrin Yucca

‘Yucca is a novel that cannot be summarized.

Is a man still a father if his child is no longer alive?

Terrin’ work is reminiscent in that respect of the work of Haruki Murakami. Terrin is a conjurer of a similar calibre: in Yucca he conjures up reality with his pen, without revealing the secret.’

– trouw

‘That’s what I appreciate so much about this versatile writer: that he can caress with such tenderness.

You lose most beautifully if you’re one of Peter Terrin’s characters.’

– humo

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peter terrin (b. 1968) is the author of two short story collections and four novels.

The Guard won the European Union Prize for Literature and made the longlist of both the Golden Owl and the ako Literature Prize. The Irish Times called it one of the best novels of the year. Post-mortem won him the ako Literature Prize and Monte Carlo was shortlist­ ed for the prestigious Libris Literature Prize 2015. Terrin’s work has been translated into numerous languages.

That is the question Viktor asks himself when he is released from prison after ele­ ven years. He barely recognizes the world that once condemned him for the death of his child. In search of who he is, he meets The Vulture, an old man from the criminal underworld.

Renée, a woman of twenty-nine, addres­ ses her thoughts to her young son. When she was four she survived a cerebral in­ farction and at nine she discovered her magical powers. Now, in 2035, she is an immensely wealthy artist. Her work changes countless human lives, whereas her life is lonely and threatened.

In 1985 Renée’s grandfather, a police in­ spector, witnesses the last and bloodiest terror attack by The Gang. From the car park in front of the supermarket he sees something no one else notices.

Thirty years later he has one last chance to prove he was right.

Sentence by sentence, as only Peter Terrin can, the author spins a web around the reader.

World rights: De Bezige Bij • Option publishers: Berlin Verlag (Germany), MacLehose Press (World English), Iperborea (Italy), Rayo Verde (Spanish, Catalan) • English sample available • novel, 390 pages • September 2016 7

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new literary fiction

Press on In a Dark Wood:

‘Demanding and magnificent.’ – the times ‘Compelling. Möring negotiates the Stygian gloom with

a lightness of touch and remarkable imaginative energy. His restless, inventive narrative continually redefines itself - as social satire, cosmic tragedy, soft porn, metaphysical speculation.’

– the guardian ‘An eminently readable novel. Breathtakingly

erudite, unashamedly modernist, earthy, ghoulish and lush at the same time, In a Dark Wood captures the reader to take him on a mesmerising trip.’ – the bookbag

‘This inventive writer grabs me by the scruff with bold, appealing images and scenes written at lightning speed.’

– de groene amsterdammer marcel mring (b. 1957) is widely considered the leading Dutch author of the day. Publication of his first novel, Mendel (1990), was an instant success, winning the Geertjan Lubberhuizen Prize for Best Debut. His second novel, The Great Longing (1992), was a bestseller and won the country’s most prestigious prize, the ako.

It was translated into many languages. Möring’s third book was the novella Decay is the Way of All Flesh (2008).

In Babylon (1997) won two Golden Owl Prizes, an award for the best Dutch language book of 1998. His novel In a Dark Wood (2006) was awarded the Bordewijk Prize for the best Dutch novel. Mountain of Purgation was published in 2011. Möring’s work has been widely translated all over the world.

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Marcel Möring Eden Eden brings together all the themes of Möring’s work: futile memory, madness and chaos.

Eden is the story of a nameless child who grows up in a forest so vast and sprawling that he has no knowledge of the world beyond it. The reader watches as he flees one day from an act he did not commit. In a psychi­ atric hospital a patient commits suicide.

Another patient, found as if dead in city woodland, no lon­ ger knows who he is. And there is the mysterious Stephanie, too, who on the face of it has nothing wrong with her.

Psychiatrist Mendel Adenauer sees his institution as the place where society’s driftwood washes up and he wonders whether he is right to think that people and the world can be healed.

World rights: De Bezige Bij • English sample available • novel, 408 pages • October 2016 9

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new literary fiction

Question to Ernest van der Kwast: How did you manage to find these stories about ‘ordinary people’ of the city?

‘The city has thousands of hidden stories. You discover them by leaning your bicycle against a tree, climbing over a fence and looking through the keyhole of a dark-green door. I went into a nightclub and let a pole dancer enchant me; I climbed a tower and found a carillonneur playing bells from 1660. I want the reader to get to know people who aren’t famous but do cast a spell on us. There’s an incredible amount of beauty to be found in everyday lives. I try to make literature out of their stories.’

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ernest van der kwast (b. 1981) made his breakthrough with the novel Mama Tandoori, which became a bestseller in the Netherlands and Italy and sold more than 100,000 copies. In 2012 he published the novella Giovanna’s Navel, which entered the Spiegel bestseller list immedi­ ately after publication in Germany (mare Verlag) in spring 2015.

The German edition of his novel The Ice-Cream Makers entered the Spiegel bestseller list in spring 2016. The novel recently received the Dioraphte Youth Literature Prize, awarded to the best book for young adults.

Ernest van der Kwast The Miracle that Doesn’t Fall Down Odes to people who give colour to a city For five years now, Ernest van der Kwast has been writing stories about people who inspire us to look and listen more closely. From the window-cleaner of the tallest building in the Netherlands, who is three months older when the last pane has been washed at which point he starts again, to a pole dancer in a nightclub, who looks at the author during her act as no woman has ever looked at him before. Ernest van der Kwast has an eye for the beauty of every­ day lives and he turns those stories into literature. He introduces the reader to people who are not famous but do fascinate: a taxi driver with Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome, a fire-eater who stands up to a tank, a pianist who gives concerts surrounded by secondhand washing machines and vacuum cleaners.

World rights: De Bezige Bij • novel, 203 pages • Option publishers: btb-Verlag (Germany), Scribe (World English) • September 2016 11

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new literary fiction

‘A lyrical meditation on guilt and evil.

The everyday yet lyrical language of will is masterly. This is Jeroen Olyslaegers’ best novel.’ – de tijd ‘Jeroen Olyslaegers exceeds expectations with page-turner will .

The novelist triumphs over the activist and we should be glad of that.’ **** – de morgen ‘A book that manages to cause this degree of disquiet is a classic. Such a book belongs on the shelf next to Louis Paul Boon and Hugo Claus.’ – ***** de standa ard ‘This inventive writer grabs me by the scruff with bold, appealing images and scenes written at lightning speed.’

– de groene amsterdammer

jeroen olyslaegers (b. 1967) writes columns, plays and prose. With his previous novels we (2009) and profit (2012) he made a comeback in Dutch literature. In 2014 he was awarded the Ark Prize for the Free Word for his work and his social en­ gagement, and the Edmond Hustinx Prize for his theatre work. Olyslaegers lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium.

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Jeroen Olyslaegers will ‘They were times for ambiguity and contempt, and in that they do not differ from other times, which is to say they have not gone by. They prowl in our midst.’

It is wartime. Antwerp is in the grip of violence and distrust. Wilfried Wils regards himself as a poet in the making but at the same time he has to get by as an auxiliary policeman. The beautiful Yvette falls in love with him; her bro­ ther is a daredevil who sticks his neck out to help the Jews. Wilfried’s artistic mentor Nijdig Baardje (‘Angry Beard’) is keen to see all the Jews annihilated.

Wavering uneasily between two worlds, Wilfried tries to survive as the pursuit of the Jews continues relentlessly. Years later he tells his story to his greatgrandson. Olyslaegers disputes the widely accepted boundaries between good and evil and makes the book resonate ingeniously with the twentyfirst century.

World rights: De Bezige Bij • English sample available • novel, 333 pages • September 2016 13

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new literary fiction

Press on I, Jan Cremer: ‘This lad on his motorbike stands for freedom as against lethargy, honesty as against hypocrisy, bravura as against respectability.

He stands, in short, for Holland against the Netherlands.’ – nrc handelsblad

‘In 1964 I, Jan Cremer caused huge controversy.

Partly as a result of publicity stunts by the author himself, it was a long time before the dust settled. By then the book had exposed a generation gap in many families.’ – npo

jan cremer (b. 1940), artist and writer, achieved international fame in 1964 with his first novel, I, Jan Cremer. At the author’s request, ‘a sure-fire bestseller’ was printed on the cover, right from the very first edition.

Cremer’s controversial comments in I, Jan Cremer were viewed by some as a threat to national security, a bad example to young people and so on.

At the same time, he was praised by such prominent colleagues as Willem Frederik Hermans. The sequel was published in 1966 and also became a smash hit. His subsequent work has included travelogues, letters and an autobiographical account.

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Jan Cremer Odyssee. Fernweh ‘Then I see the coffin my father is lying in, with his eternal hat. The coffin is decorated with two little flags on each side. The lid has six small openings, windows with curtains on them. When I see it I recall that my mother told me my father could always see me from heaven.’

For half a century Jan Cremer tries to find out about his real family background. It has always been con­ cealed from him. He knew he had a father who was caught in a web of Fernweh, a longing for far-off places, a feeling that led him further and fur­ther from house and home and in 1937 took him to Budapest, where he met the self-willed ballerina Rozsá Csordás Szomerkay, nineteen at the time, who became Jan Cremer’s mo­ ther. It is not until 2011, on finding documents that she left, that Cremer gets to know more about his origins.

In a subdued style he investigates the origins of his parents’ turbulent life and its tragic outcome. Odyssee is a fascinating book, one that throws a bright and merciless light on the Nether­ lands of before, during and after the Second World War.

World rights: De Bezige Bij • memoir, 288 pages • October 2016 15

thomas rap

new literary fiction

‘Realism with a lot of wry humour, sometimes of the slapstick kind. Cinematic too. Deen’s writing is extraordinarily vivid and explicit. Excellent debut novel.’ – het parool ‘Love – or what passes for it – as an unpredictable force of nature: everyone is affected by it, not just lonely farmers or eccentric ladies from the city. You need the pen of a Mathijs Deen to depict this phenomenon with such agonizing realism.’

– nrc handelsblad ‘With Among People Deen has written

a good, entertaining book.’

mathijs deen (b. 1962) works for a national radio programme devoted to historical documentaries. He has published a number of novels and collections of newspaper columns.

His collection of stories Brutus heeft honger (Brutus is Hungry) received critical acclaim and was nominated for the prestigious AKO Literature Prize. His book The Wadden Islands was published in 2013.

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Mathijs Deen Among People ‘Jan is not content. It’s the first winter he’s spent as lord and master on the farm, and his first winter alone.

His whole working life still lies before him. Yet everything is already perfect. That insight gives the things he does an overtone of futility that he cannot handle.’

Jan has lived alone for years since the sudden deaths of his parents. The heir to a beautiful farm close to the North Sea, he cannot escape the loneliness that awaits him each day when the farm work is done. He decides to place a personal ad. He’s searching for a woman for con­ versation, for sex, and – if he’s lucky – even for love and a child. The woman who answers, however, has plans of her own. She wants nothing more than a simple life in a quiet place close the sea.

For her, Jan’s farm offers an escape from the busy city and from a reckoning with her past. And when she discovers that she can see the sea from the farmhouse loft, she makes up her mind to live there – to live there no matter what.

World rights: Thomas Rap • Rights sold: mare Verlag (Germany) novel, 206 pages • 2016 17

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new literary non-fiction

‘Beeckman doesn’t write philosophy for her fellow academics, she presents urgent analyses that affect us all. A provocative history of ideas. The topics Beeckman discusses are of great relevance in these times.’ – trouw ‘The scope of Beeckman’s criticism covers much of contemporary thinking.’ – vrij nederland

tinneke beeckman (b. 1976) has a PhD in Philosophy and writes as a columnist for De Standaard, a Flemish daily newspaper. Power and Powerlessness was nominated for the Liberales book award and for the Socrates Wisselbeker, a prize for the best philosophy book written in Dutch.

Her first book, Through Spinoza’s Lens, won the Liberales book award.

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Tinneke Beeckman Power and Powerlessness.

In Defence of the Enlightenment On what political basis do we wish to construct our communal life? How can the ideas of the Enlightenment inspire us to step away from extremism and social despair?

In Power and Powerlessness, philosopher Tinneke Beeckman takes the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris as the starting point for her investigation into the causes of political and religious conflict in demo­ cratic societies. She stresses that ideals such as truth and universal equality have become obsolete. In their stead, ambi­ guous postmodern thinking seemingly dominates, constantly underlining the relativity of truth and moral values. This has led both to a sinister fundamentalism and to a persistent neoliberalism.

Referring to historical and contemporary thinkers, Beeckman presents us with op­ portunities for recovery in this revealing and absolutely essential book.

World rights: De Bezige Bij • French sample available • popular philosophy, 288 pages • October 2016 19

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new literary non-fiction

‘One of the most memorable rows between me and my wife was about basil. More specifically about the question of whether or not my wife had asked me to keep half the basil plant for her tomato soup.

I’d stirred that little plant into my salsa verde to the very last leaf and I was certain she hadn’t made any objection. Unfortunately she was no less certain of her case. The quarrel escalated. Soon our argument was not just about who had said what concerning the kitchen herb but about our characters and, ultimately, the chances of our relationship succeeding. This is a pattern not confined to marital disputes. Do we need more or less Europe? Is the earth warming up because of human activities or is that a myth invented by deep-green tree-huggers?

These too are debates in which two camps quickly emerge, both absolutely convinced that the facts manifestly point to only one conclusion: that they are perfectly right.’

ruben mersch (b. 1976) studied biology and philosophy. By a stroke of fate he found himself in the phar­ maceutical industry after graduating.

Then he decided to be a writer and became a columnist for De Standaard.

His first book, Blinkerthinking (2012) was published in German translation

by Goldmann Verlag (2014).

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Ruben Mersch Why Everyone is Always Right Opinions and the reasons we stick to them Whether it’s a matter of the role of Islam in terrorist attacks, the safety of pestici­ des or the skin colour of St. Nicholas’ little helpers: why do two camps so often emerge that are both convinced they have a monopoly on wisdom? Why do we so love to dig ourselves into the trenches of our own rightness? In Why Everyone is Always Right Ruben Mersch tries to answer these questions through the connection between cockroaches and ethics, the low-hanging trousers of hiphoppers and the mystery of the clean student kitchen. In doing so he makes eager reference to the latest insights of psychologists, anthropologists, biolo­ gists, philosophers and eighteenth-century preachers with a predilection for billiards. His conclusion is sobering: not our reason but our emotions hold sway over our thinking.

Fortunately, Mersch adds, there are ways to counteract this. He presents these means to the reader captivatingly and with hilarious examples. Why Everyone is Always Right is the ideal book to give us more insight into the eccentricities of the human spirit.

World rights: De Bezige Bij. Option publisher: Goldmann Verlag (Germany) popular science, 271 pages • October 2016 21

thomas rap

new literary non-fiction

‘An inspiring guide to the world of classical music.’

– Jaap van Zweden, next music director of the New York Philharmonic ‘The fear of classical music is the fear of the unknown.

Many people are frightened of finding themselves in a maze of terminology. They assume you must know a great deal about classical music before you can enjoy it. A misconception, although it’s definitely more enjoyable the more you know about it.

With this book I want to combat that fear.’

A Spotify playlist has been compiled for each chapter of the book, so that you can easily look up the pieces mentioned.

merlijn kerkhof (b. 1986) is a writer, journalist and music critic for publications including the daily nrc Handelsblad. Everything Begins with Bach is his first book.

Merlijn Kerkhof Everything Begins with Bach What you need to know about classical music What is classical music and where does it come from? What are its most regularly recurring styles?

Why are the most famous composers German? What is so great about Beet­ hoven’s Ninth Symphony or the atonal music of Arnold Schönberg, and did we actually have a Dutch Mozart? In chap­ ters such as ‘What you need to know about the St. Matthew Passion, Franz Schubert: from the sequence Winehouse, Hendrix and Cobain’ and ‘Liszt and Chopin: the piano gods of the nine­ teenth century’, Merlijn Kerkhof provides answers to such questions.

Everything Begins with Bach is not a complete history of music but a book by someone who wants to convey with real passion his limitless love of music. An accessible and entertaining start to a musical voyage of discovery.

World rights: Thomas Rap • popular non-fiction/ classical music, 288 pages • 2016 22

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new literary non-fiction

‘In fact with the invention of optical instruments, there and then, in the most ‘‘enlightened’’ part of Europe, eyes were opened and the source struck from which all our current knowledge about multidimensional time-space has sprung, from the big bang and black holes to elementary particles, nanotechnology and superstrings.’

‘Klukhuhn’s approach enables him to look at familiar material from a new perspective, so that it comes across to us as completely fresh. The book conveys an impor­ tant insight: looking at the world from a different perspective can literally change it.’ – filosofie magazine

andr klukhuhn is a chemist and a philosopher. In 2003 his major work The History of Thought was published, of which a fully revised edition ap­ peared in 2013. In 2008 he published All People are called Janus.

André Klukhuhn Light The Dutch Republic as the birthplace of the Enlightenment The seventeenth century is not just the period in European cultural history that largely coincides with the early Enlighten­ ment, it is also the period known as the Golden Age in the history of the Repu­ blic of the Seven United Netherlands. In France and England people looked with apprehension upon this new, rich state, this colonial world power without a king, without a court of nobles, with self-government by the people.

René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza were dominant in philosophy, Christiaan Huygens and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in science, Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer in art, and Joost van den Vondel and Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft in literature. For most of them, light was of fundamental importance. This book is about the light that in the seventeenth century was concentrated so brilliantly in a small geographical area, enabling it to gain a crucial position in world history and bringing about an unprecedented revolution.

World rights: De Bezige Bij • philosophy/history, 254 pages • 2016 24

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cargo

new commercial fiction

‘After an acclaimed debut, Donald Nolet returns with an addictive thriller. The Devil’s Handwriting is of a calibre to match the work of Dan Brown.’ - **** – de volkskr ant ‘A fast-paced, gripping thriller that makes you curious about the real-life manuscript.’ **** – noordhollands dagblad

full of clues, inscriptions and secret locations.’ – zin

‘Intelligent summer thriller

donald nolet (b. 1975) studied Japanese culture and language. Since graduating he has worked as an advertising copywriter. In 2014 he won both the Golden Noose and the Shadow Prize for best thriller with his debut Encrypted. According to the jury, ‘Nolet combines a number of classic thriller ingredients to amazing effect’. Jury members were ‘surprised by this masterfully crafted and outstandingly written faction thriller with international appeal’.

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Donald Nolet The Devil’s Handwriting The inspiration for The Devil’s Handwriting, the Voynich manuscript, remains a riddle for cryptographers to this day.

Zina Welter, a brilliant young mathema­ tician, works as an analyst at a multinati­ onal bank in New York. When she hands over inside information on the bank’s operations to the American government, Zina is not only fired, she faces the threat of court action and being sued for dama­ ges. In a single day she finds her life de­ railed. She returns to the Netherlands, where her old professor from Princeton approaches her with the Voynich manus­ cript, a fifteenth-century illustrated work, written in an unknown language. No one has yet been able to crack this Holy Grail of decryption. Drawn to the mys­ tery, Zina finds herself slowly beginning to develop an algorithm that could be the key to unlocking the manuscript’s secret. At a meeting with Voynich experts, she reveals her plan. From that point onwards, Zina is swept along on a journey across Europe, accompanying a motley crew of specialists, each with motives of their own for wanting to decipher the manuscript. As its true significance begins to reveal itself, un­ settling events come in quick succession. Whom can Zina still trust?

The nsa is just one of the organizations that has tried and failed to break the code. There are many theories to date, yet not a single word has been decrypted.

World rights: Cargo • English sample available • thriller, 334 pages • 2016 27

cargo

new commercial fiction

‘Together features intriguing characters that are fully rounded. The story gains an extra dimension by continually switching between the cellar where the women are systematically abused and events surrounding the newly married couple.’ – nederlands dagblad ‘Terpstra writes gripping,

tense and character-driven thrillers.’

– vn detective & thrillergids

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anita terpstra (b. 1974) graduated in journalism and art history. Her successful debut thriller Night Flight was nominated for the Shadow Prize and the Crimezone Thriller Award.

Her book Different was published in Germany and France. Television-film rights have been sold to a French producer.

Anita Terpstra Together 'Four women have disappeared.

My husband knows where they are.'

When MacKenzie marries Matt, a prisoner on death row, she is ditched by everyone around her.

Matt has been convicted of the kidnapping of four women.

One of the victims managed to escape and Matt was found guilty based on her testimony.

He continues to insist he is in­ nocent, however, and the other women have never been found.

But then one more young wo­ man disappears.

To save Matt’s life, MacKenzie goes all out to prove him inno­ cent. When that fails she decides to help him escape from the top security prison. Because for her, far more yet is at stake.

World rights: Cargo • Option publishers: Blanvalet (Germany), Denoël (France) • thriller, 288 pages • 2016 28

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cargo

new commercial fiction

‘A thriller that’s almost impossible – de telegr a af

to put down.’

‘Black Widow is as hardboiled as they come, a great holiday thriller, cleverly written by a duo that really should stay together for a while.’

– **** de volkskr ant ‘In Black Widow Hartman and Ross have created an extraordinarily realistic thriller that gives you a taste for more.’ – bangersisters.nl

In his thrillers tomas ross (b. 1944) balances on the dividing line between fact and fiction. He has written more than forty books, winning the Gouden Strop Prize three times, and has worked as a scriptwriter on highly acclaimed Dutch television series and films. corine hartman (b. 1964) worked as a scriptwriter for many years and has fif­ teen thrillers to her name. Her books are famed for their tough action sequences and fascinating characters. She has been nominated for the Gouden Strop a number of times and has won several Crimezone Awards.

Death Head's Moth will be published by Piper in 2017.

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Ross & Hartman Black Widow The future of Europe hangs in the balance A series of savage attacks strikes at the heart of Europe. Sir Charles Cavendish, boss of nato’s security forces, has his Special Forces team track a suspect to gain more information about the cul­ prits. To their amazement the trail leads them to the home of a senior nato offi­ cial. Then a fresh attack takes place, this time in Amsterdam. The outlines of a horrifying plot become visible, and in a race against time team members Adam Kaplan and Carrie Montevagio try to prevent further attacks. When they find the people responsible, Carrie takes dead­ ly dangerous decision. Adam will have to pull out all the stops to avoid losing his partner.

World rights: Cargo • option publisher: Piper Verlag (Germany) • thriller, 340 pages • 2016 31

de bezige bij

new graphic novel

Aart Taminiau Wool With Wool Aart Taminiau leaves us in no doubt that he is one of the best artists in the Netherlands.

aart taminiau (b. 1982) is an artist and animator. He works mainly with Indian ink and a dip pen. He was one of the authors of the journalistic com­ ic strip The Squatter, the Policeman, the Lawyer and the City. Wool is his debut.

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The Van Mergaerts have been extremely successful wool tra­ ders for generations, until their privileged position is destroyed by the modern age. The entire family, from grandma to a dis­ tant cousin, used to live well on the profits of the wool trade, but the acquisition of a ‘total machine’ has brought their prosperity to an abrupt halt.

Alphons, the director’s nephew, is forced to move in with his family after his father breaks all connections with his relatives and heads out on his own.

Alphons soon realizes that other members of the family are failing to cope with the new situation.

In truly brilliant drawings, Aart Taminiau conjures up an image of the province of Brabant during the Industrial Revolution. The extraordinary design of the book is of intrinsic importance as well, showing how darkness gains ground as business dealings falter.

World rights: De Bezige Bij • graphic novel, 176 pages • October 2016 33

de bezige bij / thomas rap

successful titles fiction

r o air h t ef au h t t a

r o air h t ef au h t t a

Kees van Beijnum Sacrifice

Daan Heerma van Voss The Last War

Thomas Heerma van Voss Stern

A.F.Th. van der Heijden The Morning Gift

His love for a Japanese woman confronts a young judge with an impossible dilemma: should he remain true to his principles or break the law to save a life?

In 1946, after the capitulation of Japan, the Tokyo Tribunal is well underway. Dutchman Rem Brink is one of the judges tasked with reaching a verdict on the most prominent of Japanese war criminals.

To distract himself from his colleagues’ power games and continually changing alliances, Brink tries to get to know an unfamiliar and utterly destroyed country. When he meets Japanese sopra­ no Michiko, who lost her parents during the bom­ bing of Japan, a tender, secret love unfolds that turns out to bring dangers of its own…

How can someone who has never been put to test by war and its moral dilemmas prove his goodness?

In the 1980s, while studying history, Abel Kaplan got to know Eva, the love of his life. In her Jewish family he experiences for the first time the feeling of being in the right place, and calls it happiness.

He identifies more and more with the story of Eva and her family, but when his marriage to her remains childless and he proves unable to fulfil his ambition as a writer, the two grow apart. Kaplan then opts for a modest job at an Islamic school, but eventually his sense of justice prompts him to act.

His concern about a bullied pupil causes his life to gain momentum. The Last War is a moving and sometimes humorous book in which the reader is carried progressively deeper into the extraordinary world of Abel Kaplan.

Disturbing and witty novel about a man confronted with the emptiness of his existence.

Hugo Stern has never succeeded in bonding with other people. An only child, he grew up alone with his mother. In one telling episode, when he is a student in London he befriends a Korean who never ever says anything – they go to the movies together and stare at the screen. Back in the Netherlands, Stern marries. He and his wife have a baby who dies soon after birth and they adopt a Korean child, giving him the same forename as their own. The story reaches a climax when the son, who has turned eighteen, wants to visit his native country. Stern is torn by separation anxiety, the memory of his friend in London who never answered his letters and his inability to press his child to his chest, all of which culminates in a heart-rending final scene at the airport.

An elegant historical pageturner with an ingenious plot.

Nijmegen, 10 July 1672. When in the early mor­ ning after Caspar and Sara’s wedding night the troops of Louis xiv take the city, the young bride disappears without trace. The question is: has she left her ‘morning gift’ with Caspar or taken it with her to an unknown destination? Caspar sets out on a desperate search. Six years later, on the day that the Treaty of Nijmegen is signed, he finds his bride in the temporary French embassy as mistress to the Marquis of Caloyanni. What has her true role been all these years? Now that peace has come, Sara wants to return to her old life as quickly as possi­ ble, but will the deceived Caloyanni simply allow her to leave?

World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Bertelsmann Verlag (Germany) • English sample and full German translation available • novel, 512 pages • 2014

World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: dtv (Germany), Weyler Forlag (Sweden), Malpaso (World Spanish) • English sample available • novel, 432 pages • 2016

World rights: Thomas Rap • Rights sold: Schöffling Verlag (Germany) • English sample and full German translation available • novel, 217 pages • 2013

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World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Suhrkamp Verlag (Germany) • English sample available • novel, 304 pages • 2015 35

de bezige bij

World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: mare Verlag (Germany) • Iperborea (Italy), Phébus (France), Aschehoug (Norway).

Full German, Italian , French and Norwegian translation available • novel, 204 pages • 2002 36

r o air h t ef au h t t a

The Hydrographer is the story of Franz von Karsch, who set sail from Hamburg for Valparaiso in the spring of 1905, to uncover the scientific basis for the movement of marine waters. But all his serious pretexts cannot disguise the fact that his life has reached an impasse from which escape lies on nei­ ther land nor sea. Even his fellow passengers, the prep-school teacher Totleben and the saltpeter merchant Moser, can do little to distract him. Then fate takes a surprising twist. Von Karsch loses inte­ rest in his study and becomes entangled in a web of intrigue. In this melancholy but also unrelenting narrative, Schröder shows himself to be a sensitive stylist and a skillful teller of tales.

r o air h t ef au h t t a

An amazing novel, in which the laws of the sea are reflected in those of love itself.

r o air h t ef au h t t a

r o air h t ef au h t t a

Allard Schröder The Hydrographer

succesful titles fiction & non-fiction

Leon de Winter Geronimo

Tommy Wieringa These Are The Names

David Van Reybrouck Against Elections

A breathtaking what-if scenario about the capture of Usama bin Laden with characters that instantly steal your heart.

World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Scribe (uk, anz), Melville House (North American), Actes Sud (France), Iperborea (Italy), Hanser (Germany), Libri (Hungary), Edhasa (Argentina), Tiderne Skifter (Denmark), Brombergs (Sweden), Buybook (Bosnia), Solbitkit (South-Korea) • Antalog (Macedonia) • Winner of the Libris Literature Prize 2013 and the Golden Owl Reader’s Award 2013 • full English, German, French etc translation available • novel, 304 pages • 2012

An urgent call for reform that seeks to breathe new life into democracy

‘Geronimo’ was the code word that the men of seal Team 6 were to use if they located Usama bin Laden. The commandos astonished the world with their spectacular operation. But did it really unfold as the official version would have us believe? De Winter is the first author to call into question the entire official version of Operation Neptune Spear – in which Usama bin Laden was eliminated – in a high wire act of the imagination.

English language rights: De Bezige Bij • All other: Diogenes (Switzerland), English sample and full German translation available • novel, 368 pages • 2015

A Beautiful Young Wife World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Hanser (Germany), Actes Sud (France), Iperborea (Italy), Scribe (uk, anz), Libri (Hungary), Edhasa (Argentina), Tiderne Skifter (Denmark), People´s Press (China), Solbitkil (South-Korea) full English, German, French etc. translation available. novel, 96 pages • 2014

‘Choosing our rulers by popular vote has failed to deliver true democratic government: that seems to be the verdict of history unfolding before our eyes.

Cogently and persuasively, David Van Reybrouck pleads for a return to selection by lot, and outlines a range of well thought out plans for how sortitive democracy might be implemented. With the po­ pular media and political parties fiercely opposed to it, sortitive democracy will not find it easy to win acceptance. Nonetheless, it may well be an idea whose time has come’ – J. M. Coetzee World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: The Bodley Head (World English) Wallstein Verlag (Germany), Taurus (World Spanish), Social Sciences Academic Press (China), Tiderne Skifter (Denmark), Actes Sud (France), Feltrinelli (Italy), Galapagos (Korea), Font Forlag (Norway) • full English and French etc. translations available • political non- fiction, 174 pages • 2013; 2016 with a new afterword 37

de bezige bij / cargo

r o air h t ef au h t t a

r o air h t ef au h t t a

r o air h t ef au h t t a

Mark Schaevers Organ Man.

succesful titles non-fiction & commercial fiction

Frank Westerman A Word a Word

Paul Verhaeghe Authority

Bart-Jan Kazemier Drone

The miraculous rebirth of an artist destroyed by Hitler

Westerman absorbs himself in terrorism and succeeds marvellously in charting our age

An encouraging and much-needed appeal to give a new, modern interpretation to authority.

If Felix Nussbaum’s life in exile from 1933 onwards was difficult, at the end of the war it was burned to the ground. Like his wife Felka Platek, Nussbaum did not return from the last transport to the East from the Dossin Barracks in Mechelen. Nothing was left of his paintings or the great fame he en­ joyed in Berlin between the wars. And yet half a century later his native city of Osnabrück has built a museum for him and today he is regarded as one of the most important Jewish painters of the twen­ tieth century.

In this book Frank Westerman tests the strength of the free word under the pressure of present-day at­ tacks since Charlie Hebdo. He mixes with terro­ rism experts in Paris and drinks mint tea with a former train hijacker who has become a poet. To get a sense of what language can do against terror, Frank Westerman goes a step further by subjecting himself to a hijacking exercise in a Boeing 747 at Schiphol Airport and by training as a hostage negotiator in a police training village. What can the word achieve against the bullet?

A great deal is going wrong these days when it comes to authority. Politics and religion have lost their credibility and parents can no longer control the behaviour of their children. In this book Paul Verhaeghe investigates how authority functions, why so little value is placed on it nowadays and what the alternative might be. Attempts to restore the authority of the past are destined to fail and they quickly degenerate into forms of pure power play. As a society we are at a crossroads, with power in one direction and new authority in the other.

‘A thriller that has what it takes to become one of the best of 2016: action, excitement, espionage, intrigue, and all of it in an excellent plot with well-explored characters.’ ***** – de thriller

World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Galiani (Germany) • Winner of the Golden Owl Literature Prize 2015, shortlisted for the eci Literature Prize 2015 • full German translation available • biography, 320 pages, illustrated • 2014

World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Links Verlag (Germany); Iperborea (Italy) • full German translation and English sample available • literary non-fiction, 288 pages • 2016

World rights: De Bezige Bij • Rights sold: Scribe (World English), Kunstmann Verlag (Germany), Citadela (Slowakia) • English sample and full German translation available • literary non-fiction, 272 pages • 2015

Felix Nussbaum. A Painter’s Life

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Young, ambitious Minister of Defence Ava Roden­ burg has her back to the wall. Parliament has unex­ pectedly decided not to support the purchase of a new type of drone. What few people know is that the contracts with the American armaments manu­ facturer, worth billions, were signed quite some time ago. The deal must go through or financial sanctions will result that might well topple the government. Ava does all she can to convince the leader of the largest opposition party...

World rights: Cargo • Rights sold: Penguin Verlag (Germany) • Nominated for the Golden Noose Award • English sample available • thriller, 336 pages • 2016 39

successful graphic novels

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de bezige bij present at the fair

Herr Seele - Kamagurka Cowboy Henk

Judith Vanistendael - Mark Bellido Mikel

Cowboy Henk came, saw and conquered

Based on a true story about a bodyguard in the Basque country

After more than thirty years he has developed into quite an icon, celebrated in comic-strip murals, eco-monuments and blow-up dolls. The figure of Cowboy Henk, with his muscled body and long yellow quiff is as ambiguous as he is energetic. He deals with the most contradictory experiences with apparent equanimity, although his reactions are rare­ly predictable. But whether he looks like a big child or an adult cast adrift, Cowboy Henk leaves no one unmoved, here or abroad. The cowboy is and remains one of Kamagurka and Herr Seele’s most brilliant inventions. Cowboy Henk has now been translated into six languages.

The Basque country, Spain. A green paradise with wild beaches on the Atlantic coast, but also a mountainous area of sombre villages and drizzle, tormented for years by eta terrorism. Based on Mark Bellido’s autobiographical story, Judith Vanistendael has created an impressive graphic novel about a seller of sweets who decides to become a bodyguard. While protecting threatened politi­ cians, he moves further and further into a shadowy existence that ultimately threatens to be fatal for him.

World rights: Oog & Blik; De Bezige Bij Rights sold: Ed. Moderne (Switzerland/German), Fremok (Belgium/French), Huuda Huuda (Finland), Autsaider Comics (Spain), No Comprendo Press (Norway), Forlaens (Denmark) • graphic novel, 320 pages • 2012 4

World rights: De Bezige Bij Antwerpen • Rights sold: Reprodukt (Germany), Les editions du Lombard (France), Norma editorial (Spain) • graphic novel, 368 pages • September 2016

Johan de Koning Director De Bezige Bij; A.W. Bruna

Francien Schuursma Deputy Director De Bezige Bij; Thomas Rap; Cargo

Peter van der Zwaag Editor-in-chief translated fiction De Bezige Bij

Marjolein Schurink Editor-in-chief Cargo

Chris Kooi Editor De Bezige Bij; Cargo

Suzanne Holtzer Editor-in-chief fiction De Bezige Bij

Katrijn van Hauwermeiren Editor-in-chief Flanders De Bezige Bij

THOMAS RAP

Mariska Kleinhoonte van Os Editor fiction De Bezige Bij

C A RG O

de bezige bij present at the fair

Haye Koningsveld Editor-in-chief non-fiction De Bezige Bij

Jacques Schalken Editor non-fiction De Bezige Bij

Arend Hosman Editor-in-chief Thomas Rap

Henrike de Goede Grants manager De Bezige Bij; Thomas Rap; Cargo

Uta Matten Rights manager De Bezige Bij; Thomas Rap; Cargo

Marijke Nagtegaal Rights manager De Bezige Bij; Thomas Rap; Cargo

Mark Beumer Head of Sales De Bezige Bij; Thomas Rap; Cargo

T HO MA S R A P

Rutger Wilmink Production supervisor & Deejay De Bezige Bij non fiction; Thomas Rap

C ARGO

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