The Discomfort of Evening

Winner of the International Booker Prize 2020

“I asked God if he please couldn’t take my brother Matthies instead of my rabbit. Amen.”

Ten-year-old Jas has a unique way of experiencing her universe: the feeling of udder ointment on her skin as protection against harsh winters; the texture of green warts, like capers, on migrating toads; the sound of ‘blush words’ that aren’t in the Bible. But when a tragic accident ruptures the family, her curiosity warps into a vortex of increasingly disturbing fantasies - unlocking a darkness that threatens to derail them all.

A bestselling sensation in the Netherlands, Lucas Rijneveld’s radical debut novel is studded with images of wild, violent beauty: a world of language unlike any other.