A day like any other. Or so it seems. Fisherwoman Geeske is waiting for her husband Johannes, who hasn’t come home after a day’s fishing. The women of the island know what it is like to have to wait, not knowing whether their husbands will return alive. Geeske does the washing, takes care of her granddaughter, digs up worms, feeds the chickens, visits her parents’ graves – and while her hands labour, thoughts occupy her mind. The years she had to wait for a child. Her daughter being her only child. The pain of birth and the chill of death. The sand beneath her bare feet conjures images of Sarah in the desert, the sea salt she licks from her lips reminds her of Lot’s wife who turned into a pillar of salt.
And then Gezientje sets foot on the island. She reminds her of Hagar. Yet there is nothing they can do, but wait for Johannes together. But will he return?
What the Dutch press said about Ebb:
A novel that really transports the reader, in which a particular universe is created and in which headstrong, but ever so lively evoked individuals are at the centre… Atmospherical, vibrant and very precise… This is a novel that makes you look at the world better yourself too, at reality around you and at current Dutch literature. A literature that can really do with a writer like this. ***** Parool
A still novel that rouses the reader’s imagination… The novel captivates because of the sensuous style, the zooming in on details… Due to this and the beautiful descriptions of nature you can see the island before you and sense the atmosphere. A painting of words… EB is a novel in which everything in the end has meaning… At the same time it is a novel with a lot of realistic detail. Precisely that combination makes the novel so captivating. Nederlands Dagblad
If you are interested in reading an English sample of Ebb, please contact
Jolijn Spooren
Rights Manager Fiction, Querido Email: j.spooren@singeluitgeverijen.nl
Phone: +31 20 76 07 210
