Anjet Daanje

Runsas romaani rakkaudesta ja kirjallisuuden kuolemaa uhmaavasta voimasta. Rakastitko Humisevaa harjua? Lue tämä kirja! Emily Brontën elämästä ja Humisevasta harjusta innoituksensa saaneen romaanin keskiössä on Eliza May Drayden, joka varttuu köyhissä oloissa 1800-luvun Yorkshiressä. Kun Elizasta ja hänen sisarestaan Millicentistä tulee kirjailijoita, sisar menestyy, mutta Elizan romaani, Haeger Mass, julistetaan moraalittomaksi. Eliza vetäytyy omiin oloihinsa ja kuolee nuorena. Mutta Haeger Massin seuraukset kantavat läpi vuosisatojen. Laulu haikarasta ja dromedaarista avaa Elizan elämän ja teoksen vaikutusta niin kirjeiden, lehtiartikkelien kuin elämäkertojen kautta. Useiden kertojien ja tekstilajien yhdistelmästä syntyy kiehtova runsaudensarvi, kirjallinen arvoitus, joka luotaa rakkauden, kuoleman ja tarinankerronnan kaltaisia suuria teemoja. Tuloksena on samanaikaisesti sekä romanttinen että analyyttinen mosaiikki, otteeseensa kietova lukuromaani, jonka luettuaan tahtoo aloittaa sen heti uudestaan.

A thrilling literary puzzle that explores the haunted life and mysterious afterlifes of a writer and her work. Who was Eliza May Drayden? Is she just the quiet, intensely private person she seems to all the world in her little village of Bridge Fowling in the shadow of the West Yorkshire hills--or is there more to her than meets the eye? It is only after her death that Haeger Mass, her one book--a dark and cryptic novel--assumes a life of its own. In each new chapter of this literary treasure hunt that spans almost three hundred years, we see the conundrum through the eyes of a new generation of characters, each providing competing and interlocking versions of the life--and cursed vision--of this Emily Bront -like figure. Scholars immerse themselves in the mystery of her life and are led to ruin; the curse that hangs over her comes to visit a young couple; a mysterious diary emerges with her strange and indecipherable poetry and sketches. Elements and symbols repeat in relentless and varying combinations from one story to the next as the years pass: as if the truth at the center of her work is fighting to break free. The Song of Stork and Dromedary is a philosophical puzzle that unfolds with the exuberance of a historical romp, ingeniously pivoting from Gothic horror to quantum mechanics to memento mori. In this thrilling, recursive tale, Anjet Daanje gets to the frantically beating heart of why we tell stories, and how we try to create meaning with them in a world filled with brutality and death. Daanje has crafted a conundrum that is as diabolical as it is heartbreaking. When we finally open the box that contains the secret behind the life of Eliza May Drayden, what will we see there--a vision of heaven or a vision of hell?

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST THE NEW YORK TIMES 100 NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES “The Best Historical Fiction Novels to Read Right Now” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 2025 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR ‘A novel of epic scope that resonates powerfully while wars of tragic loss continue to be fought on multiple fronts, including in Europe. Daanje exhibits brilliant powers of reconstitution in her descriptions of the war’s aftermath and the blighted landscapes that it left behind.’ Tobias Grey in The Financial Times An extraordinary love story and a captivating novel about the power of memory and imagination. Flanders 1922. After serving as a soldier in the Great War, Noon Merckem has lost his memory and lives in a psychiatric asylum. Countless women, responding to a newspaper ad, visit him there in the hope of finding their spouse who vanished in battle. One day a woman, Julienne, appears and recognises Noon as her husband, the photographer Amand Coppens, and takes him home against medical advice. But their miraculous reunion doesn’t turn out the way that Julienne wants her envious friends to believe. Only gradually do the two grow close, and Amand’s biography is pieced together on the basis of Julienne’s stories about him. But how can he be certain that she’s telling the truth? In The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje immerses us in the psyche of a war-traumatised man who has lost his identity. When Amand comes to doubt Julienne’s word, the reader is caught up in a riveting spiral of confusion that only the greatest works of literature can achieve.

Eliza May Drayden, den helt centrale hovedkarakter i Sangen om Storken og dromedaren, dør ganske ung i allerførste kapitel. Hun trækker vejret for sidste gang den 12. december 1847 i den lille landsby Bridge Fowling i Yorkshire, hvor hun er vokset op med sine søstre i en ensomt beliggende præstegård. Første kapitel fortælles af Elizas dødevasker, Susan Knowles-Chester, og herefter slippes hendes spøgelse løs i resten af romanens elleve store, selvstændige kapitler. Hvert kapitel beskriver et menneskeliv fra fødsel til død, alle med en stærk forbindelse til Eliza May, og alle med dramatiske levnedsløb fyldt med uforklarlige hændelser. Anjet Daanje fortæller imponerende, gribende, og dødsens uhyggelige historier, der spænder over næsten 200 år frem til år 2030. Hele vejen gennem romanen optræder Eliza Draydens lille sorte notesbog, der er fyldt med sære, uudgrundelige tegn og skriblerier, som tillægges alskens betydninger, og først i allersidste kapitel får vi ’opklaret’ mysteriet om den.

KORAD TILL 2000-TALETS BÄSTA NEDERLÄNDSKA ROMAN (NRC Handelsblad 2025)Eliza May Drayden växer upp under enkla förhållanden i det tidiga 1800-talets Yorkshire. Tillsammans med sina systrar Millicent och Helen flyr hon in i fantasins värld. När Eliza och Millicent efter många refuser lyckas få varsin roman utgiven, under manlig pseudonym, blir Millicents en stor framgång medan Elizas stämplas som sjuk och förkastlig. Eliza drar sig undan från världen, men ryktena om henne och hennes roman har fått eget liv och fortsätter att gäcka läsare mer än 100 år efter hennes död. I elva kapitel berättas historien om Elizas liv genom elva olika människor som på olika sätt kommit att beröras – eller kanske hemsökas – av henne. Var hon en omoralisk skandalförfattare? Ett missförstått geni? De märkliga berättelserna går inte ihop – särskilt inte de som handlar om hennes död.” Storkens och dromedarens sång” är en roman om döden och livet, om kärlek och sorg. Om det oförklarliga och mystiska, men också om det allra mest mänskliga. Och om historieberättandet som det enda som kan hålla människan vid evigt liv.“Om jag en enda gång under min karriär som litteraturkritiker skulle få dela ut sex stjärnor istället för de maximala fem, så skulle jag ge dem till ’Storkens och dromedarens sång’. En roman som gjorde mig så överväldigad att jag ännu inte har återhämtat mig helt.” NRC Handelsblad

‘A novel of epic scope that resonates powerfully while wars of tragic loss continue to be fought on multiple fronts, including in Europe. Daanje exhibits brilliant powers of reconstitution in her descriptions of the war’s aftermath and the blighted landscapes that it left behind.’ Tobias Grey in The Financial Times An extraordinary love story and a captivating novel about the power of memory and imagination. Flanders 1922. After serving as a soldier in the Great War, Noon Merckem has lost his memory and lives in a psychiatric asylum. Countless women, responding to a newspaper ad, visit him there in the hope of finding their spouse who vanished in battle. One day a woman, Julienne, appears and recognises Noon as her husband, the photographer Amand Coppens, and takes him home against medical advice. But their miraculous reunion doesn’t turn out the way that Julienne wants her envious friends to believe. Only gradually do the two grow close, and Amand’s biography is pieced together on the basis of Julienne’s stories about him. But how can he be certain that she’s telling the truth? In The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje immerses us in the psyche of a war-traumatised man who has lost his identity. When Amand comes to doubt Julienne’s word, the reader is caught up in a riveting spiral of confusion that only the greatest works of literature can achieve.

An extraordinary love story and a captivating novel about the power of memory and imagination. Flanders 1922. After serving as a soldier in the Great War, Noon Merckem has lost his memory and lives in a psychiatric asylum. Countless women, responding to a newspaper ad, visit him there in the hope of finding their spouse who vanished in battle. One day a woman, Julienne, appears and recognizes Noon as her husband, the photographer Amand Coppens, and takes him home against medical advice. But their miraculous reunion doesn't turn out the way that Julienne wants her envious friends to believe. Only gradually do the two grow close, and Amand's biography is pieced together on the basis of Julienne's stories about him. But how can he be certain that she's telling the truth? In The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje immerses us in the psyche of a war-traumatized man who has lost his identity. When Amand comes to doubt Julienne's word, the reader is caught up in a riveting spiral of confusion that only the greatest of literature can achieve.

Kåret til 2000-tallets beste Nederlandske roman av NRC Handelsblad i 2025! Sangen om storken og dromedaren er en roman om døden og livet, om kjærlighet og sorg. Om det uforklarlige og mystiske, men også om det aller mest menneskelige. Og om fortellingen – som det eneste som kan gi mennesket evig liv. Eliza May Drayden vokser opp under enkle kår i 1800-tallets tidlige Yorkshire. Sammen med søstrene Millicent og Helen flykter hun inn i fantasiens verden. Når Eliza og Millicent etter mange refusjoner får hver sin roman utgitt, under mannlige pseudonymer, blir Millicents en stor suksess, mens Elizas stemples som syk og forkastelig. Eliza trekker seg tilbake fra verden, men ryktene om henne og romanen hennes har fått sitt eget liv og fortsetter å forføre og forvirre lesere mer enn hundre år etter hennes død. I elleve kapitler fortelles historien om Elizas liv gjennom elleve ulike personer som på forskjellig vis har blitt berørt, eller kanskje hjemsøkt, av henne. Var hun en umoralsk skandaleforfatter? Et misforstått geni? De merkverdige fortellingene henger ikke sammen, særlig ikke de som handler om hennes død. «Hvis jeg én eneste gang i min karriere som litteraturkritiker skulle få dele ut seks stjerner i stedet for maksimalt fem, ville jeg gitt dem til Sangen om storken og dromedaren. En roman som gjorde meg så overveldet at jeg ennå ikke helt har kommet meg.»- NRC HandelsbladVinner av Libris Literatuurprijs og Boekenbon Literatuurprijs. Utpekt til 2000-tallets beste roman av både kritikere og publikum i to uavhengige kåringer i nederlandsk presse. Anjet Daanje (f. 1965) er utdannet matematiker og debuterte som romanforfatter i 1993.