This is one in a series of readings from The Song of Stork and Dromedary by Anjet Daanje. Check out the whole series at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvwToi1IG7tIbyOABfbjnvA
Inspired by the life and work of Emily Brontë, this masterful, multi-award-winning book — acclaimed as the best Dutch novel published this century — pulls readers into a narrative that redefines time itself.
In the early 1800s, in Yorkshire, Eliza May Drayden and her sisters live far from the public eye, devoted to their shared love of reading and writing books. When, after dozens of rejections, Eliza May’s only novel, Haeger Mass, is finally published, it’s labelled as ‘ghastly’ and ‘immoral’. Over time, however, it is embraced by generations of readers as a masterpiece, and tales about its mysterious, reclusive author take on a life of their own.
In eleven extraordinary chapters, the story of Eliza May — both before and after her death — unfolds: through the tales of people who met her; her sister’s letters; her biographers’ words; the pages of a mysterious notebook; and the lives that become intertwined with hers, even centuries later.
In The Song of Stork and Dromedary, Anjet Daanje has crafted an absorbing literary mystery and an unforgettable meditation on love, life, loss, and the inexplicable nature of time. As the Brontës themselves did, Daanje shows us that storytelling is our only way to transcend death.
"Daanje works a deep literary vein that’s full of sly allusions . . . And there are sublime moments throughout, even when death comes into play . . . A challenging book that rewards its readers with great depth and beauty." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A significant and moving literary achievement, an unforgettable story of a historical mystery. . . McKay renders Daanje's distinct, rhythmic prose and character tones adroitly, alongside the atmospheric dread and luminous beauty that epitomizes her writing." —Elizabeth DeNoma, Shelf Awareness
Translator bio
David McKay is an award-winning translator of Dutch fiction, nonfiction, plays, and poetry. Born and educated in the United States, he has lived in and around The Hague since 1997.
Author bio
Anjet Daanje writes novels, short stories, and screenplays. Her breakthrough novel, The Remembered Soldier, won the Netherlands’ 2020 F. Bordewijk Prize and the Best Book of Groningen Prize. The Song of Stork and Dromedary won the 2023 Libris Literature Prize, the most prestigious award for Dutch literature, and the Boekenbon Prize, the Netherlands’ other major literary award — the first time that the Libris and Boekenbon prizes have been won by the same book. It has since been licensed in 13 languages and has sold over 100,000 copies in the Netherlands. Scribe has licensed North American rights in its edition to Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Buy the book:
https://scribepublications.com.au/books/the-song-of-stork-and-dromedary
https://scribepublications.co.uk/books/the-song-of-stork-and-dromedary
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374620615/thesongofstorkanddromedary/
Translators Aloud is a YouTube channel devoted to sharing the work of literary translators, for both published and unpublished works.