From the International Booker Prize-longlisted author and translator of The Remembered Soldier, comes The Song of Stork and Dromedary, a transcendent masterpiece inspired by the the historic literary figures — the Brontë sisters.
Read what reviewers have been writing about the book that's acclaimed as the Dutch novel of the century.
‘If just for once in my career as a literary critic, I could award six stars instead of the maximum of five, I would award them this week — to The Song of Stork and Dromedary by Anjet Daanje, (translated by David McKay), a novel that left me so overwhelmed that I have not yet fully recovered … I have never had a reading experience like this one, and I don’t know if I will ever again be so impressed by a book.’
—Thomas de Veen, NRC
‘Daanje works a deep literary vein that’s full of sly allusions … And there are sublime moments throughout, even when death comes into play … A challenging book that rewards its readers with great depth and beauty.’
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
‘Unforgettable … A significant and moving literary achievement, an unforgettable story of a historical mystery … McKay renders Daanje’s distinct, rhythmic prose and character tones adroitly, alongside the atmospheric dread and luminous beauty that epitomises her writing.’
—Elizabeth DeNoma, Shelf Awareness
‘This sweeping multigenerational epic, a winner of multiple awards in Daanje’s original Dutch, was deftly translated by McKay … In exploring the facts and fiction of Eliza May’s life and work, the narrative slides between historical fiction, science, philosophy, and horror, creating a pastiche reading experience. Each chapter is novella-like in length, sometimes in letter or notebook form. Perfect for readers who enjoy fiction in translation and anyone looking for a sweeping adventure through literary legends, Daanje’s story asks fundamental questions about art, loss, and acclaim as it highlights truths across languages and centuries.’
—Courtney Eathorne, Booklist
‘Daanje presents such an absorbing narrative spectacle that I can compare her book only to the masterly Possession by A.S. Byatt, the Booker Prize winner in 1990 … Daanje’s book is just as marvellous … monumental in scope, erudite, overflowing with wonderful stories.’
—Maaike Meijer, De Groene Amsterdammer
‘It sometimes made me think of Julian Barnes, sometimes of A.S. Byatt and Hilary Mantel … It’s delightful to attempt to solve the puzzle, see the connections, detect the details that resurface in a new century after hundreds of pages, and to contemplate all the food for thought that Daanje offers us. A rich book to be re-read the moment you’ve finished.’
—Maria Vlaar, De Standaard
‘A novel of international allure that crosses boundaries and genres. It is serious and playful, analytical yet romantic, and an ode to the imagination — you might even say, an ode to literature itself.’
—Beatrice de Graaf, chair of the Libris Literature Prize judging panel
Inspired by the life and work of Emily Brontë, this masterful, multi-award-winning book — acclaimed as the best Dutch novel published this century — pulls readers into a narrative that redefines time itself.
In the early 1800s, in Yorkshire, Eliza May Drayden and her sisters live far from the public eye, devoted to their shared love of reading and writing books. When, after dozens of rejections, Eliza May’s only novel, Haeger Mass, is finally published, it’s labelled as ‘ghastly’ and ‘immoral’. Over time, however, it is embraced by generations of readers as a masterpiece, and tales about its mysterious, reclusive author take on a life of their own.
In eleven extraordinary chapters, the story of Eliza May — both before and after her death — unfolds: through the tales of people who met her; her sister’s letters; her biographers’ words; the pages of a mysterious notebook; and the lives that become intertwined with hers, even centuries later.
In The Song of Stork and Dromedary, Anjet Daanje has crafted an absorbing literary mystery and an unforgettable meditation on love, life, loss, and the inexplicable nature of time. As the Brontës themselves did, Daanje shows us that storytelling is our only way to transcend death.
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
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An extraordinary love story and a captivating novel about the power of memory and imagination.
Flanders 1922. After serving as a soldier in the Great War, Noon Merckem has lost his memory and lives in a psychiatric asylum. Countless women, responding to a newspaper ad, visit him there in the hope of finding their spouse who vanished in battle. One day a woman, Julienne, appears and recognises Noon as her husband, the photographer Amand Coppens, and takes him home against medical advice. But their miraculous reunion doesn’t turn out the way that Julienne wants her envious friends to believe. Only gradually do the two grow close, and Amand’s biography is pieced together on the basis of Julienne’s stories about him. But how can he be certain that she’s telling the truth?
In The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje immerses us in the psyche of a war-traumatised man who has lost his identity. When Amand comes to doubt Julienne’s word, the reader is caught up in a riveting spiral of confusion that only the greatest works of literature can achieve.
Anjet Daanje writes novels, short stories, and screenplays. Her breakthrough novel, The Remembered Soldier, won the Netherlands’ 2020 F. Bordewijk Prize and the Best Book of Groningen Prize. The Song of Stork and Dromedary won the 2023 Libris Literature Prize, the most prestigious award for Dutch literature, and the Boekenbon Prize, the Netherlands’ other major literary award — the first time that the Libris and Boekenbon prizes have been won by the same book. It has since been licensed in 13 languages and has sold over 100,000 copies in the Netherlands. Scribe has licensed North American rights in its edition to Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
David McKay is an award-winning translator of Dutch fiction and nonfiction. Born and educated in the United States, he has lived in and around The Hague since 1997.
