The Silent Sin
ABOUT
THE BOOK
When Anna’s family home is destroyed in a fire, she is forced to become a maid for music publisher De Malapert.Intrigued by her employer, she spends her free time conjuring up ways to impress him.
De Malapert remains unaware of her attentions. Working in the shop by day, and transcribing opera scores by night, his only distraction is afforded by the occasional visit from his friend Everard Borgholt.
As Anna’s obsession deepens, however, she begins to eavesdrop on these late night soirees, and learns more about her mysterious employer than is safe for any of them.
Unwittingly, she contributes to the downfall of both the ‘only man she could imagine giving herself to’ and herself.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR David
Colmer
David Colmer’s translations from the Dutch include works by Hugo Claus, Cees Nooteboom, Gerbrand Bakker and Annie M.G. Schmidt. His translations have won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In 2013 he won the Vondel Prize for his translation of Dimitri Verhulst’s The Misfortunates.
David Colmer’s translations from the Dutch include works by Hugo Claus, Cees Nooteboom, Gerbrand Bakker and Annie M.G. Schmidt. His translations have won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In 2013 he won the Vondel Prize for his translation of Dimitri Verhulst’s The Misfortunates.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
The story of a young woman in Amsterdam in 1730 who fell in love with a publisher of music