Dear Mr M.

The once celebrated writer M. had his greatest success with a novel about the notorious disappearance of Jan Landzaat. This history teacher disappeared after a brief affair with a stunning pupil, and was last seen at the holiday cottage where she was staying with her new boyfriend. The novel was a bestseller and marked M.’s international breakthrough, but now, at the end of his career, he is fading increasingly into obscurity. But not when it comes to his mysterious downstairs neighbour, who keeps a close eye on M. What does he have to do with the disappearance case?

From various perspectives, Herman Koch tells the intriguing story of a writer in decline, a teenage couple in love and a missing teacher. Thanks to the bestseller, their fate seems to be linked forever. Dear Mr M. is a magnificent novel about jealousy and envy, friendship and love. With his world-renowned sharp eye, Herman Koch once again spares nothing and no one.

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‘Dear Mr M. comes very close to perfection.’***** DE STANDAARD

‘It is not just a page-turner, there are also plenty of belly laughs to be had.’ –**** HET PAROOL

‘Koch demonstrates his great narrative talent.’DE TELEGRAAF

‘Tense, ingeniously constructed novel by a chuckling writer.’ZIN

‘The writing is crystal clear and unpretentious, typically Koch!’**** NRC HANDELSBLAD

‘Dear Mr M. fulfills the promise of a long-awaited new Koch after only a few pages.’VRIJ NEDERLAND

‘Koch has mastered all the tricks. He is the master of variety, balance and subtle cliff-hangers. [...] Plot-driven is an understatement: Koch cracks the whip to the very end.’BOEK

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‘Herman Koch, the best-selling postwar Dutch writer, shows yet again why he is the master of suspense and open endings.’ **** Humo

‘Koch demonstrates his great narrative talent.’ DE TELEGRAAF

‘A groundbreaking book, clever and important. It is an ext remely funny, ‘shake awake’ book, that we probably need more than we’d like to know. I hope that there will be more translations of Herman Koch’s books. It will be a pleasure.’ Nordjyske (Denmark)

‘Dizzying and poetic, a book the reader will think about long after the last page has been turned. ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD

‘An ingeniously plotted story. Odessa Star reads like a thriller.’ TROUW

‘War at Last is a light-hearted story about ordinary people, told with humour and empathy.’ Leeuwarder Courant

‘Thinking of Bruce Kennedy shows us Koch at his best.’ Vrij Nederland

‘The story unfolds from one powerful scene to the next, from one penetrating image to another.’ Vrij Nederland

‘Anyone who really wants to understand Koch’s popular novels should start with these stories.’ NRC Handelsblad

‘Should Tom Sanders disregard that advice? Or should he tackle his son about his behaviour? That is the central dilemma in Easy Living, and Koch gets a devilish kick out of making Tom Sanders vacillate between these two options, and gets an even greater kick out of pushing him into a corner.’ Parool

'In an extremely penetrating manner, Herman Koch describes the fortunes and misfortunes of the fossilised teaching staff with its false cheerfulness and hypocritical belief in the ‘Montanelli Method'.' De Ster

Koch commands his metier with an effortless superiority. De Volkskrant

Wie Koch kent, weet gemanipuleerd te gaan worden, met onweerstaanbare vertellers en superieure ironie. En ook nu weer krijgt hij je in de tang NRC