From Publishers Weekly
Dorrestein's first novel to be translated into English is a riveting psychological thriller that rates comparison with Shirley Jackson's classic, We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Like Jackson, Dorrestein excels at describing how an eccentric familyDin this case, the van Bemmels of The HagueDis tormented and finally destroyed by the growing madness of one of its members. Frits van Bemmel and his wife, Margje, have four children and a large house, in which they also run a news-clipping service. Their existence seems idyllic, until a fifth child, Ida, is born, and Margje begins acting strangely. She talks back to a divine figure, who urges her to attack her children. Ida suffers from mysterious, recurrent injuries, and the children's father refuses to see the obvious. Narrator Ellen, the third child, is a sharp, book-smart 13-year-old, who realizes something is wrong, but can do nothing but fly into hysterical rages. Twenty-five years later, Ellen finds herself back in her childhood home, alone, separated from her husband and expecting a baby. Huddled in the basement, she pages through a family picture album and forces herself to think back on the inexorable, mad decline of the household and the day when "life blew up in our faces like a time bomb." Dorrestein's exquisitely calibrated narrative becomes mesmerizing as Ellen struggles to comprehend how one day her whole family could just be wiped out and how she could have survived. (Jan.) Forecast: Several years ago, another unorthodox Dutch thriller was made into the well-received film The Vanishing; A Heart of Stone is a natural for Hollywood's attention, too. In any case, the book, a BOMC alternate, should win DorresteinDwho will embark on a six-city author tour hereDname recognition in the English-speaking world.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Dorrenstein's novel begins gently, with a simple, fond childhood memory in which Ellen and her sister and two brothers await the birth of the family's fifth child. The story is told in flashbacks by a thirtysomething pregnant Ellen, who gradually reveals more sinister goings on. When their new baby sister falls ill, their mother, Marje, begins to worry constantly about her, even after she recovers. As Ellen and her siblings watch helplessly, their mother becomes more and more unhinged, to the point that she fears her baby is possessed by the devil. Their father, Frits, loves his wife to the point of distraction and doesn't know how to halt her downward spiral. Marje's decent into madness leads to a tragedy that forever changes the course of Ellen's life. As the details of the tragedy are slowly disclosed, the reasons for the adult Ellen's aloofness become clear. Ellen must ultimately come to terms with her past before it consumes her present. This Dutch best-seller, Dorrenstein's first to be translated into English, is chilling, gripping, and unforgettable. An impressive introduction that will leave readers hungry for more. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
