Fortunate Slaves
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Two doppelgänger exiles-both, curiously, named Tony Hanssen-are on the run from the lies and deceit that have defined their lives. When they accidentally meet up, they realise that each could hold the solution to the other’s problems. An allegory of the global economic crisis and of the identity conflict of modern man, Fortunate Slaves is a moral and picaresque novel that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. Just how low will desperate men sink to achieve their aims?
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Michele
Hutchison
Michele Hutchison is a literary translator from Dutch and French into English and a former commissioning editor at various publishing houses. She was educated at UEA, Cambridge and Lyon universities. She has translated more than forty-five books from Dutch. She received the Vondel Translation Prize 2020 for Stage Four, her translation of Sander Kollaard’s Stadium IV. In 2020 The Discomfort of Evening, her translation of Marieke Lucas Rijneveld’s debut novel was awarded the International Booker Prize. Hutchison is also co-author of The Happiest Kids in the World: What We Can Learn from Dutch Parents.
Michele Hutchison is a literary translator from Dutch and French into English and a former commissioning editor at various publishing houses. She was educated at UEA, Cambridge and Lyon universities. She has translated more than forty-five books from Dutch. She received the Vondel Translation Prize 2020 for Stage Four, her translation of Sander Kollaard’s Stadium IV. In 2020 The Discomfort of Evening, her translation of Marieke Lucas Rijneveld’s debut novel was awarded the International Booker Prize. Hutchison is also co-author of The Happiest Kids in the World: What We Can Learn from Dutch Parents.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
Two individuals with the same name (Doppelganger in fact) have adventures in their strive for money and recognition. A tragic but also comical novel with a twist. Lanoye writes beautiful prose, the story is amusing, thrilling (with real cliffhangers!) and informative. It takes place in South America, Africa and China and is a story about the modern world in an economic crisis and individual choices.
With its seeming paradoxes and moral complications, this is a picaresque novel that immerses the reader in its sparkling language.
Chosen by our readers.