Gretel Fernsby is a quiet woman leading a quiet life. She doesn't talk about her escape from Germany seventy years ago or the dark post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn't talk about her father, the commandant of one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps. But when a young family moves into the apartment below her, Gretel can't help but befriend their little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back painful memories. One night, she witnesses a violent argument between his parents, which threatens to disturb her hard-won peace. For the second time in her life, Gretel is given the chance to save a young boy. To do so would allay her guilt, grief and remorse, but it will also force her to reveal her true identity. Will she make a different choice this time, whatever the cost to herself?
Ton Heuvelmans Book order (chronological)






The Lonely Hearts Hotel
- 400 pages
- 14 hours of reading
A novel about childhood damage and the redemptive power of art from an author twice listed for the Women's Prize and the Giller Prize
What Are We Doing Here?
- 333 pages
- 12 hours of reading
New essays on theological, political, and contemporary themes, by the Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America like Emerson and Tocqueville inform our political consciousness or discussing the way that beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson’s peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display. What Are We Doing Here? is a call for Americans to continue the tradition of those great thinkers and to remake American political and cultural life as “deeply impressed by obligation [and as] a great theater of heroic generosity, which, despite all, is sometimes palpable still.”
The first nine months of Donald Trump's term were stormy, outrageous - and absolutely mesmerising. Now, thanks to his deep access to the West Wing, bestselling author Michael Wolff tells the riveting story of how Trump launched a tenure as volatile and fiery as the man himself. In this explosive book, Wolff provides a wealth of new details about the chaos in the Oval Office. Among the revelations: - What President Trump's staff really thinks of him - What inspired Trump to claim he was wire-tapped by President Obama - Why FBI director James Comey was really fired - Why chief strategist Steve Bannon and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner couldn't be in the same room - Who is really directing the Trump administration's strategy in the wake of Bannon's firing - What the secret to communicating with Trump is - What the Trump administration has in common with the movie The Producers Never before has a presidency so divided the American people. Brilliantly reported and astoundingly fresh, Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury shows us how and why Donald Trump has become the king of discord and disunion.
Payback, English Edition
- 400 pages
- 14 hours of reading
Suspense fiction. More than a decade after the end of Apartheid, ex-gun-runners Mace Bishop and Pylon Buso are trying to settle down to a comfortable Cape existence. But when an old contact calls in a favour, they become embroiled once again in the country's violent underworld of crime and corruption - and with the lethal Islamist organisation PAGAD. A gripping tale of narcotics, arms-dealing and international intrigue, PAYBACK heralds the arrival of a major new crime-writing talent.
Little Failure. Kleiner Versager, englische Ausgabe
- 368 pages
- 13 hours of reading
A candid and poignant story of a Soviet family's trials and tribulations, and of their escape in 1979 to the consumerist promised land of the USA.
All That Is
- 369 pages
- 13 hours of reading
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A New York Times Book Review Notable Book An NPR "Great Reads" Book All That Is explores a life unfolding in a world on the brink of change. Philip Bowman returns to America from the battlefields of Okinawa and finds success in the competetive world of publishing in postwar New York—yet what he most desires, and what eludes him, is love. Here is PEN/Faulkner winner James Salter's dazzling, sometimes devastating portrait of love and ambition, a fiercely intimate account of the great shocks and grand pleasures of being alive.
Niets verdwijnt
- 401 pages
- 15 hours of reading
Tijdens een bezoek aan zijn oude college in Oxford wordt de vrouw van Alex Petersen, de mooie en levenslustige Rachel, vermoord. Alex' leven verandert ingrijpend. Een halfjaar na de moord keert Alex terug naar Oxford. Stap voor stap probeert hij het mysterie rond haar dood te ontrafelen. Alex wordt in Oxford hartelijk ontvangen door Harry, voormalig docent en mentor van Rachel, een man die tijdens haar leven overal bij betrokken lijkt te zijn. Maar welke rol speelt Harry? En wat hebben haar universiteitsvrienden, Anthony en Cissy, ermee te maken? Zij deelden een voorliefde voor verboden activiteiten met Rachel. Langzamerhand leert Alex dat noch zijn eigen leven noch zijn liefde ook maar enigszins is wat hij dacht. 'Een literaire thriller verpakt in een whodunit-liefdesverhaal.' - John Boyne, auteur van 'De jongen in de gestreepte pyjama' 'Superieur. Een uitzonderlijke roman. De plot is overtuigend zonder afgezaagd te zijn.' - The Observer 'De spanning van Nicci French en de bruisende intelligentie van Donna Tarts De verborgen geschiedenis. Lees dit boek nu voordat iedereen erover praat.' - Elle
The stranger's child
- 340 pages
- 12 hours of reading
In the late summer of 1913 the aristocratic young poet Cecil Valance comes to stay at 'Two Acres', the home of his close Cambridge friend George Sawle. The weekend will be one of excitements and confusions for all the Sawles, but it is on George's 16-year-old sister Daphne that it will have the most lasting impact.
De instructies
- 1226 pages
- 43 hours of reading
Gurion Maccabee is een krankzinnig, wijs, grappig, onverbeterlijk, verontrustend en goddelijk geïnspireerd jochie van tien jaar. Hij is van zo'n beetje elke Joodse school in Chicago getrapt en wordt op zijn nieuwe school direct in De Kooi ondergebracht: een gesloten programma voor kinderen met gedragsproblemen. Daar ontpopt hij zich echter al snel als de ultieme leider, met messianistische aspiraties. Wat volgt is een angstaanjagende les in hoe de onderdrukking van menselijke en creatieve vrijheid, in combinatie met religieuze hartstocht en de energie van de jeugd, extremistisch gedrag in de hand werkt.
A visit from the goon squad
- 351 pages
- 13 hours of reading
With music pulsing on every page, "A Visit from the Goon Squad" is a startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption.
Spitalfields, 1840. Catherine is an orphan, living in her uncle's rambling house in London's East End. Out in the streets, a murderer dubbed The Man of Crows is killing young women. As the city panics, Catherine grows obsessed by the dead girls, thinking they hold the key to uncovering the killer - but in fact, she's already far closer than she realizes . . . 'A charged, fast-paced ride through the dark underbelly of Victorian London. Fans of Sarah Waters will love this.' Good Housekeeping 'Wonderfully ripe, imaginative and gripping, with a spider's web of a plot and a spine-tingling atmosphere of menace and suspense.' The Times 'Mesmerising.' The Lady 'A juicy book, with sumptuous period detail and a narrative crammed with intrigue and speculation.' Sunday Telegraph 'Thrilling.' Independent on Sunday 'Intense, intelligent and hugely entertaining, The Pleasures of Men will add Williams to teh ranks of queens of contemporary fiction.' Guardian
Sunset park
- 320 pages
- 12 hours of reading
Paul Auster's Sunset Park is set in the sprawling flatlands of Florida, where twenty-eight-year-old Miles is photographing the last lingering traces of families who have abandoned their houses due to debt or foreclosure. Miles is haunted by guilt for having inadvertently caused the death of his step-brother, a situation that caused him to flee his father and step-mother in New York seven years ago.What keeps him in Florida is his relationship with a teenage high-school girl, Pilar, but when her family threatens to expose their relationship, Miles decides to protect Pilar by going back to Brooklyn, where he settles in a squat to prepare himself to face the inevitable confrontation with his father - a confrontation he has been avoiding for years.Set against the backdrop of the devastating global recession, and pulsing with the energy of Auster's previous novel Invisible, Sunset Park is as mythic as it is contemporary, as in love with baseball as it is with literature. It is above all, a story about love and forgiveness - not only among men and women, but also between fathers and sons.
In an orphanage in Indonesia, Johan watches over his younger brother Adam, as they have no one else. However, when they are adopted by different families, they lose contact. Johan is taken to Kuala Lumpur by a wealthy Malaysian couple, while Adam remains in Indonesia and is adopted by the Dutch painter Karl. Johan grows up in luxury, while Adam lives in a simple coastal town. But then, in the summer of 1964, civil war threatens Indonesia. Foreigners, especially the Dutch, are increasingly met with hostility. When Karl is arrested, sixteen-year-old Adam decides to do everything he can to find him. What he does not know is that his search will also bring him closer to his brother.
"This is the story of Johnny Lim - textile merchant, petty crook, and inventor of the Amazing Toddy Machine - and his marriage to Snow Soong, the most beautiful woman in the Kinta Valley. In 1940, with the Japanese threatening to invade, Johnny and Snow embark upon their honeymoon, recounted in Snow's captivating journal, to the mysterious Seven Maiden Islands, accompanied by a mercurial Japanese professor and Peter Wormwood, an Englishman adrift. Many years later, Wormwood looks back on this defining journey, while Snow's only son goes in search of the truth of his mother and the infamous Chinaman she married." Set against the backdrop of a country in crisis, this novel is both a mystery and a confession that dramatises the ambiguous nature of identity.
The Jesuits - missions, myths and histories
- 352 pages
- 13 hours of reading
The Jesuits narrates the captivating history of the Society of Jesus, the most influential religious order in Roman Catholicism. Over five centuries, Jesuits have journeyed as missionaries worldwide, establishing haciendas in Mexico, exploring the Mississippi and Amazon rivers, and serving Chinese emperors as map-makers, painters, and astronomers. Their extensive travels significantly impacted the political and social histories of numerous countries. The Society boasts a legacy of saints and martyrs, as well as thirty-five lunar craters named after Jesuit scientists. They have faced both vilification and veneration, experiencing horrific deaths and engaging in remarkable deeds. The Society's influence disrupted established norms within the Roman Catholic Church and transformed the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual landscapes of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. They have asserted their presence in education, politics, and religious devotion, remaining a vital force in the evolving Catholic Church despite contemporary challenges. Jonathan Wright’s engaging study explores the myths and realities surrounding the Jesuits, highlighting their extraordinary achievements and failures. Their journey reflects the broader historical narratives of Discovery, Reformation, Enlightenment, and Revolution that have shaped the modern world.
Recovering from a near-fatal illness, Sidney Orr, a thirty-four-year-old novelist, purchases a mysterious blue notebook from a Brooklyn stationery shop and is drawn into a bizarre world of eerie premonitions and baffling events.
Master storyteller Patrick McGrath, acclaimed for his novel Asylum, weaves a hypnotic tale of psychological suspense and haunting beauty. Set against the backdrop of Hogarth's London and the volatile Massachusetts Bay colony, the story introduces a flame-haired heroine whose journey lingers in the imagination long after the last page. Our narrator recounts the life of Harry Peake, a poet and smuggler who tragically lost his wife, Grace, in a fire that left him disfigured. He resorts to displaying his deformed spine in London alehouses, finding solace only in his devoted daughter, Martha, who inherits his fiery spirit but not his passion for gin. As Harry succumbs to alcoholism, he commits a final act of brutality, forcing Martha to flee to the American colonies. There, she becomes entangled in the fervor of rebellion, yet the shadows of her past loom large. Amidst betrayals, she seeks redemption through an unforgettable act of courage. Superbly plotted and absorbing, this novel showcases McGrath's psychological precision and imaginative prowess on a broad historical canvas. It tells the poignant tale of a child escaping a father's twisted love and the colonists' struggle for freedom from their homeland, marking McGrath's finest work to date.
The whole woman
- 452 pages
- 16 hours of reading
Germaine Greer proclaims that the time has come to get angry again! Modern feminism has become the victim of unenlightened complacency, and what started out in the Sixties as a movement for liberation has become one that has sought and settled for equality.With fiery rhetoric, authoritative insight, outrageous humour and broad-ranging debate, Greer shows that, although women have indeed come a very long way in the last thirty years, the notion of our 'having it all' has disguised the persistent discrimination and exploitation that continues to exist for women in the basic areas of health, sex, politics, economics and marketing.Erudite, eccentric, provocative and invigorating, Germaine Greer once again sets the agenda for the future of feminism as the millennium draws to a close. Here is all the polemical power that sold over a million copies of The Female Eunuch and kept its author at the heart of controversy ever since. The announcement in February 1998 that this book was coming was enough to send the world's media into a frenzied spin of speculation: The Whole Woman will be required reading for thinking adults everywhere.
Wetten van verbondenheid
- 310 pages
- 11 hours of reading
/ 9789027469311 / Literature translated into Dutch / Nederlands / Dutch / Néerlandais / Niederländisch / paperback / 14 x 22 cm / 310 .pp /
Trainspotting
- 352 pages
- 13 hours of reading
Read the seminal bestselling novel that changed the face of British fiction and inspired Danny Boyle's film. 'The best book ever written by man or woman... Deserves to sell more copies than the Bible' Rebel Inc Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting oan a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fuckin junk food intae yir mooth. Choose rotting away, pishing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total fuckin embarrassment tae the selfish, fucked-up brats ye've produced. Choose life. 'Welsh writes with a skill, wit and compassion that amounts to genius.' Sunday Times
The Millstone
- 172 pages
- 7 hours of reading
At a time when sex is de rigueur -- this is the 60s, after all, in newly energized London -- and illegitimacy taboo, Rosamund Stacey finds herself pregnant after her only sexual encounter. Despite her fierce independence and academic brilliance, Rosamund is naive and unworldly and the choices before her are terrifying. But in the perfection and helplessness of her baby she finds an unconditional love she has never known before, and the realization that motherhood and independence are not mutually exclusive.
This dark psychological fantasy is more than a moral tale. It is also a product of its time, drawing on contemporary theories of class, evolution and criminality and the secret lives behind Victorian propriety, to create a unique form of urban Gothic.
BlackBirds: The Picture of Dorian Gray
- 208 pages
- 8 hours of reading
Een jongeman is gedoemd om uiterlijk zijn stralende jeugd te behouden, terwijl het geleidelijk achteruitgaan van zijn portret zijn toenemende innerlijke aftakeling onthult.
In a poor, remote section of Southern Mexico, the paramilitary group, the Red Shirts have taken control. God has been outlawed, and the priests have been systematically hunted down and killed. Now, the last priest is on the run. Too human for heroism, too humble for martyrdom, the nameless little worldly “whiskey priest” is nevertheless impelled toward his squalid Calvary as much by his own compassion for humanity as by the efforts of his pursuers.
A baseball game between Jewish schools is the catalyst that starts a bitter rivalry between two boys and their fathers.
The Cement Garden
- 128 pages
- 5 hours of reading
Four children, living alone with their mother, decide not to inform the authorities when she dies. Instead they take her down into the cellar and bury her in cement and for the next days, weeks and months live far away from normal conventions.
Galaxy: History and Anthology of English and American Literature
- 293 pages
- 11 hours of reading
De wonderlijke geschiedenis van dr Jekyll en mr Hyde
- 84 pages
- 3 hours of reading
Door een drank die goede en kwade karaktertrekken scheidt, gaat een wetenschapsman steeds meer een dubbelleven leiden.






















