Craving

Translated from Dutch by Michele Hutchison

Esther Gerritsen

“With its deceptively simple but extraordinary language and its sophisticated humour, Craving is a small gem amongst recent Dutch literature” Herman Koch, author of The Dinner

The relationship between Coco and her mother, Elisabeth, is uneasy to say the least. As a child, Coco went to live with her father when her parents separated, seeing her mother once a week. Now Coco is an adult, they meet far less frequently. Her father remarried and at family get-togethers, he and his second wife often talk about Elisabeth, speculating whether she has undiagnosed Asberger’s.

So when mother and daughter bump into each other by chance and Elisabeth casually tells Coco that she is terminally ill, it sends Coco into a tailspin of complicated emotions. With her own life in disarray, Coco decides to move in with her mother and take care of her, forcing aspects of their troubled relationship to come to the fore once again. Elizabeth tries her hardest to conform to the image of a loving mother, but struggles to deal with Coco’s increasingly erratic behaviour.

Esther Gerritsen’s whip sharp dialogue and dark humour perfectly captures our human frailties…how relationships fracture, how we talk at cross purposes and why it sometimes feels easier to skirt around the truth.

Funny, moving and memorable, Craving is a wryly observed novel about family.

Craving is one of four novels launching the new imprint World Editions

• Hilarious and painful at the same time.

  De Volkskrant