Additional information
by Marijke Schermer (Author), Liz Waters (Translator)
A novel about a marriage torn apart by a violent secret for fans of Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies"Excellent
novel. Packed with emotional truth and elegantly turned narrative. A fine
translation too."―Ian McEwan, author of international bestseller Atonement
Emilia has it all: a
rewarding career as a statistician, a wonderful husband, two healthy young sons,
and a house in the countryside. But when a brief moment of panic triggers the
memory of a traumatic experience from twelve years before, Emilia finds herself
floating away from her average existence. The secret she's kept for so long
refuses to stay hidden, and as Emilia's grip on reality loosens, heavy rains
begin to fall and the river threatens to overflow the house. In this critically
acclaimed novel, Schermer explores the impact of sexual violence, and whether
or not it's possible to truly know another person. Breakwater is a haunting examination of memory and trauma, written
in prose stunning in its frankness and precision.
Author Biography
MARIJKE SCHERMER
Marijke Schermer is a novelist and playwright. Her stage work has been performed by several companies and translated into various languages. Her novel Breakwater was shortlisted for the ECI Literature Prize, has been sold to Spain, Switzerland, and Denmark, and is currently being made into a film. In 2019, her novel Love, If That's What It Is was published in Dutch (and subsequently in English by World Editions) and Schermer was hailed as "fast becoming one of the most interesting writers in the Netherlands." It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Libris Literature Prize 2020.
After finishing her studies at the University of Manchester, Liz Waters worked for several years with English-language texts and at a literary agency in Amsterdam before becoming a full-time translator of literary fiction and non-fiction. Authors whose books she has translated include Lieve Joris, Jaap Scholten, Luuk van Middelaar, Annelies Verbeke, and Geert Mak.
