The Discomfort of Evening

*SENSATIONAL WINNER OF THE BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2020*

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

'Haunting . . . reminded me a lot of Iain Banks. It's incredible that it's a debut.' Douglas Stuart

'Exceptional' (Financial Times)



'Exhilarating' (Independent)



'Luminous' (Observer)

'Beautifully wild' (Guardian)

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, 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.

ONE OF VOGUE'S TOP FIVE DEBUTS

ONE OF THE OBSERVER'S HIGHLIGHTS



ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S TOP TEN BEST NEW BOOKS IN TRANSLATION



Lucas Rijneveld (b. 1991) grew up in a Reformed farming family in North Brabant before moving to Utrecht. One of the greatest new voices in Dutch literature, his first poetry collection, Calf's Caul, was awarded the C. Buddingh' Prize for best poetry debut in 2015, with the newspaper de Volkskrant naming them literary talent of the year. In 2018, Atlas Contact published his first novel, The Discomfort of Evening, which won the prestigious ANV Debut Prize and was a national bestseller. The UK edition won the2020 Booker International Prize. Alongside his writing career, Rijneveld works on a dairy farm.

Michele Hutchison was born in the UK and has lived in Amsterdam since 2004. After a period working as an editor, she became a literary translator from Dutch, and recently translated Lucas Rijneveld's The Discomfort of Evening which won the Booker International Prize 2020.