The Remembered Soldier - by Anjet Daanje (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Superb . . . In its dangerous admixture of truth and reassembled reality, 'The Remembered Soldier' develops an unforgettable picture of marital love."--Sam Sacks in The Wall Street Journal

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.

Review Quotes

"An epic, extraordinary story of love, identity and war, Anjet Daanje's first novel in English is a powerfully vivid portrait of two people dealing with their changed lives after the first world war . . . David McKay's page-turning translation faithfully conveys the propulsive nature of Daanje's long, sinuous sentences . . . Virtuoso stuff."--Tobias Grey in The Financial Times

"The phenomenal English-language debut from Daanje weaves an affecting love story through a tangle of memories and dreams . . . The complex and layered narrative is as moving as it is unsettling, and it will keep readers wondering about the truth long after the final page. It's a remarkable achievement."--Publishers Weekly (Starred review)

"Daanje ... is currently the Netherlands' most celebrated writer. Her achievement is to bring us so close to her characters, and for so long an exposure, that they seem emotionally naked, utterly human in their efforts and deceptions. In its dangerous admixture of truth and reassembled reality, 'The Remembered Soldier' develops an unforgettable picture of marital love."--Sam Sacks in The Wall Street Journal

"By far the best novel of recent years."--NRC Handelsblad

"I've never encountered a novel so intensely realistic yet so dreamily rendered. The Remembered Soldier is absolutely singular and utterly bewitching. I could have read it forever."--Daniel Kraus, New York Times bestselling author of Whalefall and Angel Down

"This is a beautifully written book . . . very effective as it brings the reader into the flying thoughts of an injured, tormented, and confused mind. The ending is complicated, but contains a surprise, and the reader is left guessing . . . Highly recommended."--Historical Novels Review

"Grapples with fragile versions of the truth . . . The Remembered Soldier, a luminous historical novel, mines the seams between a veteran's traumas and restored hope."--Foreword Reviews (Starred review)

"A psychologically astute and accomplished novel. The Remembered Soldier is a studied exploration of a marriage and wartime horror. The prose is nothing short of Jamesian in its nuanced depiction of . . . intimacy, and David McKay's translation of Daanje's writing, with all of its subtleties, is truly remarkable."--Lori Feathers, The Big Book Project

"Particularly impressive . . . a solid, engaging novel, The Remembered Soldier also uses the historical period and place well, making for a rich read."--The Complete Review

"This is a story about healing a soldier's mind after surviving years of carnage, and it is about restoring mutual trust and love after so much has happened . . . an absorbing tale."--Kirkus Reviews

"A gripping story . . . stirring, psychologically profound, and not a page too long."--Deutschlandfunk

"The book is phenomenal."--Ivo van Hove, Tony and Olivier award-winning theater director

About the Author

Anjet Daanje, the pseudonym of Anjet den Boer who was born in 1965, writes novels, short stories, and screenplays. The Remembered Soldier has won the top literary prizes in her native Netherlands, including the 2020 F. Bordewijk Prize, the Best Book of Groningen Prize, and was longlisted for the 2020 Libris Literature Prize.

David McKay is an award-winning translator of Dutch fiction and nonfiction. Born and educated in the United States, he has lived in and around The Hague since 1997.