With a sharp and observational eye, Annelies Verbeke takes a funny, imaginative, and perceptive look at the realities and absurdities of human interactions, relationships, and everyday life.
Verbeke matches poetic prose with a cast of intriguing characters and unexpected plot twists. Our protagonist is Alphonse, a Senegalese immigrant who uproots his life in Brussels to become a handyman in a rural district in Flanders. Likable and charismatic, people cannot help but reveal their secrets, desires, and unexpected dreams to him. In her typically astute style, Verbeke weaves a vivid and thought-provoking tale of contemporary life, subtly touching upon timely themes such as refugees and racism.
Thirty Days is a deeply moving story about love, outsiders, and the human need to connect, compellingly translated from the Dutch by Liz Waters.
“While Thirty Days deals with these very contemporary, divisive themes of immigration, displacement, racism, and the rise of hate groups, it is not an overtly political novel, but an artful examination of the rich, interior life of one Senegalese immigrant, living in Belgium.” —The Literary Review
“Verbeke has constructed an entire life in 30 days (the chapters are numbered as such), and the result is nothing less than extraordinary.” —The Gazette
(Group read suggestion from Gemma Ware, book club moderator.)
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