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Readers of Europe 2022 – Dutch recommendation
- 25 July 2022
- Reading suggestion
- gsclibrary
Recommendation by the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the EU
Book selected: ‘Confrontation’ by Simone Atangana Bekono
Simone Atangana Bekono’s debut novel, ‘Confrontation’, speaks on so many levels.
It follows Salomé Atabong, who has arrived at a juvenile detention centre to start a six-month sentence for an act of violence.
The daughter of a Cameroonian father and a Dutch mother, her home life is falling apart. Things are even worse at school, where she is the victim years of racist bullying. Salomé is someone confined to the fringes of society, never really fitting in and forced to carry the weight of that solitude with her.
This story is bleak, as one might expect given its setting. Through inner torment, flashbacks and reflection, Salomé’s feelings come to the fore. Her anger is palpable. She has never properly learned to channel the anger within her – the anger of adolescence, of being the victim of repeated racism, of constantly being an outsider looking in.
Her home life has long fallen apart. She is bullied and harassed on a daily basis. Society tells her to knuckle down and concentrate on her school work. But when she does that nothing changes. There is just a constant state of hopelessness.
In the six months she is incarcerated she tries to make sense of her life. Why she is the way she is. When things went so wrong. What will happen when she gets out. She strives to find her own understanding of acceptance, remorse and dignity.
In piercing dialogue with poetic rhythm and timing, the language used is raw and unnerving. There is a relevance to the way her characters speak. Her use of slang and repetition of phrases give an immersive feeling of living inside the confines of a cell. The lingering brutality that hangs over everything.
A furious and powerful storm of a book.
Simone Atangana Bekono (1991) first came to prominence as a poet. Her 2017 collection ‘How the First Sparks Became Visible’ was widely acclaimed and won the Aan Zee Poetry Debut Prize. It has now been published in English. ‘Confrontations’, her first novel, was longlisted for the prestigious Libris Literature Prize in 2021.
If you’re looking to unearth Dutch literary gems, discover more via Eureka, the online catalogue of the Council libraries.
About the Readers of Europe campaign
The year 2022 has been designated the European Year of Youth. The Council Library has therefore chosen to devote its annual Readers of Europe initiative to young people, putting the focus squarely on new and emerging European literary talent.
The permanent representations to the EU have once again been invited to recommend books from their countries to read over the summer, with the third edition of our Readers of Europe campaign. The theme for this year’s campaign is ‘Discover something new’, the idea being that every permanent representation selects a book from their country by an author who has published their first work within the last five years. We will then promote these selections over the summer on the Council Library blog.
Europe is awash with exciting young authors. Dive into this selection and discover stories that hum with fresh ideas and luminous prose. Novels that ask piercing questions about humanity. Stories that are edgy and beautiful, gripping and unsettling. Stories worthy of a place in any library.
So find a comfy place to sit back and relax as we showcase some of Europe’s promising literary talent. Join us as we once again encounter the Readers of Europe.
