Craving
ABOUT
THE BOOK
The relationship between Coco and her mother Elisabeth is uneasy, to say the least. Running into each other by chance, Elisabeth casually tells Coco that she is terminally ill. When Coco moves in with her mother in order to take care of her, aspects of their troubled relationship come to the fore once again. Elisabeth tries her best to conform to the image of a caring mother, but struggles to deal with Coco’s erratic behaviour and unpredictable moods.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Michele
Hutchison
Michele Hutchison is an Amsterdam-based translator, editor and writer. She has translated more than forty books from Dutch including the winner of the 2020 International Booker Prize, The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld, the international bestseller Grand Hotel Europa by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer and We Are Light by Gerda Blees (winner of the EU Prize for Literature). She is co-author of The Happiest Kids in the World and author of The North Wind (poetry).
Michele Hutchison is an Amsterdam-based translator, editor and writer. She has translated more than forty books from Dutch including the winner of the 2020 International Booker Prize, The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld, the international bestseller Grand Hotel Europa by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer and We Are Light by Gerda Blees (winner of the EU Prize for Literature). She is co-author of The Happiest Kids in the World and author of The North Wind (poetry).
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
Mother Elizabeth meets her daughter Coco unexpectedly after many years. Elizabeth has cancer and has not long to live. Coco decides to live in with her mother. Psychological profile of mother and daughter with dialogues in short sentences which seem simple but imply so much more: silly, bizarre, but also painful. Mother and daughter slowly lose contact with reality and each other. Gerritsen shows the inner thoughts of both women which gives a fascinating view of alienation and isolation. But in the end both are bound in that isolation. Touching and captivating!