literature

18 Dutch Novels You Need to Read This Summer (2019)

Why not read a book by a Dutch or Flemish author this summer? Here you’ll find a selection of great novels that have been translated into English this year, with the support of the Dutch Foundation for Literature or Flanders Literature. Discover more translated books in this database.

The Dutch maiden

Author: Marente de Moor
Translator: David Doherty
Publisher: WorldEditions LLC
Original title: De Nederlandse maagd (Querido, 2010)

Bird Cottage

Author: Eva Meijer
Translator: Antoinette Fawcett
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Original title: Het vogelhuis (Cossee, 2016)

Sleepless summer

Author: Bram Dehouck
Translator: Jonathan Reeder
Publisher: WorldEditions LLC
Original title: Een zomer zonder slaap (De Geus, 2011)

The darkness that divides us

Author: Renate Dorrestein
Translator: Hester Velmans
Publisher: WorldEditions LLC
Original title: Het duister dat ons scheidt (Contact, 2003)

Read our profile of Renate Dorrestein.

Gliding flight

Author: Anne-Gine Goemans
Translator: Nancy Forest-Flier
Publisher: WorldEditions LLC
Original title: Glijvlucht (De Geus, 2011)

On the bright side, The new secret diary of Hendrik Groen, 85 years old

Author: Hendrik Groen
Translator: Michael Joseph
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Original title: Zolang er leven is (J.M. Meulenhoff, 2016)

The woman who fed the dogs

Author: Kristien Hemmerechts
Translator: Paul Vincent
Publisher: WorldEditions LLC
Original title: De vrouw die de honden eten gaf (De Geus, 2014)

Read our profile of Kristien Hemmerechts.

The Convert

Author: Stefan Hertmans
Translator: David McKay
Publisher: Harvill Secker & Text
Original title: De bekeerlinge (De Bezige Bij, 2016)

Read our profile of Stefan Hertmans.

The ditch

Author: Herman Koch
Translator: Sam Garret
Publisher: Text & Picador
Original title: De greppel (Ambo | Anthos, 2016)

Read our profile of Herman Koch.

The coming of Joachim Stiller

Author: Hubert Lampo
Translator: Paul Vincent
Publisher: Valancourt Books
Original title: De komst van Joachim Stiller (J.M. Meulenhoff, 1960)

Sleepless night

Author: Margriet de Moor
Translator: David Doherty
Publisher: New Vessel Press & House of Anansi
Original title: Slapeloze nacht (De Bezige Bij, 2017)

Read our profile of Margriet de Moor.

Max Havelaar. Or, the coffee auctions of the Dutch Trading Company

Author: Multatuli
Translator: David McKay, Ina Rilke
Publisher: New York Review of Books
Original title: Max Havelaar of De koffij-veilingen der Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (De Ruyter, 1860)

Read our article about the new English translation.

Adrift in the Middle Kingdom

Author: Jan Jacob Slauerhoff
Translator: David McKay
Publisher: Handheld Press
Original title: Het leven op aarde (Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 1934)

Read our profile of Slauerhoff.

Intimations of death

Author: Felix Timmermans
Translator: Paul Vincent
Publisher: Valancourt Books
Original title: Schemeringen van den dood. (Van Kampen, 1910)

The republic

Author: Joost de Vries
Translator: Jane Hedley-Prole
Publisher: Other Press & Arcadia
Original title: De republiek (Prometheus, 2013)

His name is David

Author: Jan Vantoortelboom
Translator: Vivien Glass
Publisher: WorldEditions LLC
Original title: Meester Mitraillette (Atlas Contact, 2014)

Ventoux

Author: Bert Wagendorp
Translator: Paul Vincent
Publisher: WorldEditions LLC
Original title: Ventoux (Atlas Contact, 2013)

The death of Murat Idrissi

Author: Tommy Wieringa
Translator: Sam Garrett
Publisher: Scribe
Original title: De dood van Murat Idrissi (De Bezige Bij, 2017)

• fiction
• novel