The Discomfort of Evening

*WINNER OF THE BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2020*

'One of the best debut novels I have ever read. Shockingly good ... A classic.' Max Porter

The sensational Dutch bestseller:

'Exceptional' (Financial Times)

'Exhilarating' (Independent)

'Luminous' (Observer)

'Beautifully wild' (Guardian)

'An earthy and irreverent new voice, thrillingly uninhibited' (New York Times)

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, exquisitely captured in Michele Hutchison's translation.