Breakwater

Widely compared to the work of Ian McEwan, with an ending that mocks classical forms and norms Marijke Schermer’s debut novel, published in 2016, before Love, If That’s What It Is, but never translated into English World Editions has published Schermers 2nd book already in 2022, to a great Publishers Weekly review: “The author expertly humanizes each of the characters’ desires and flaws as she illuminates the raw, inner workings of a broken marriage. This is as cathartic as it is gut-churning. (Feb.)” As she did in Love, If That’s What It Is, Schermer brings forth the unspoken paradoxes that lurk in every household; the need to be sheltered versus the desire to be free, the craving for intimacy versus the inability to share one’s secrets A woman who seems to have it all is haunted by a traumatic experience of sexual violence in her past, which she has kept hidden from her husband and her inability to tell him drives the couple apart Timely climate-change angle, as heavy rains and flooding mirror the main character’s emotional turmoil Schermer’s knife-sharp observations about human behavior and the incompetence to express oneself and really communicate with each other are absolutely masterful A refreshingly non-conformist take on marriage and the loss of personal identity that comes with it Breakwater is currently being made into a film Books about marriage and secrets are a category in their own right, with lots of dedicated readers Books about Marriage and Secret titles on Book Riot https://bookriot.com/books-about-marriage-and-secrets/ Rights sold: Germany (Kampa Verlag), Denmark (Grif), Spain (Alfaguara) Shortlisted for the ECI Literary Prize 2017