Awards

• Short-listed for Jan Michalski Prize for Literature 2023 (France)

Overview

The dazzling new novel by the author of the modern classic War and Turpentine In the summer of 1979, Stefan Hertmans fell in love with a dilapidated house in Ghent. He rescued it from decay and it became his peaceful sanctuary. Decades on, he learns that a bust of Hitler once sat on the mantelpiece, and a war criminal and his family relaxed in its rooms. This shocking discovery sends Hertmans to the archives, where he uncovers the secrets of the house and the atrocities committed by its former owner Willem Verhulst. Drawing on the historical record and interviews with Verhulst’s family, Hertmans reimagines the life of a weak, narcissistic man who climbed the ranks of the SS. Hertmans also uncovers the marital drama that took place in the house: Verhulst’s commitment to the SS was at odds with the outlook of his wife, a deeply religious pacifist. The Ascent is an immersive tale of war, family and individual fate, in which Hertmans demonstrates his mastery at spinning a personal story into an epic narrative.

Full Product Details

9781922458858

Table of Contents

Reviews

‘A powerful and humane reminder that the horrors of the past century are inexhaustibly fascinating and reverberate today.’ * Observer * ‘Hertmans brilliantly describes and imagines scenes in the house…There are memorable novelistic flourishes throughout the book as he imagines family life in the home that became his own.’ * Ian Sansom, Telegraph * ‘Riveting…Alive with the same investigative verve, psychological perception and narrative virtuosity as its two acclaimed predecessors, The Ascent is a compelling addition to them.’ * Sunday Times (UK) * ‘Stefan Hertmans…was handed the sort of gift novelists dream of when he discovered his house in Ghent was once occupied by Willem Verhulst…It’s a territory ripe for writerly investigation, and Hertmans sets about excavating it with the same interest in memory and history as the late great author W. G. Sebald.’ * Daily Mail * ‘Haunting and authentic…A sharp meditation on war and the nature of evil.’ * Sydney Morning Herald * ‘A very political project about the role of history in the present…confront[ing] a whole national story and mak[ing] sense of it.’ * ABC Radio National Bookshelf * ‘The writing is sparkling, and the story a strong one.’ * Canberra Times * ‘Anyone who has ever wondered about the secrets contained in an old house is sure to enjoy this one.’ * Australian *

'Reminiscent of W. G. Sebald, this intoxicating hybrid of a book combines memoir with fiction...[A] beautiful and cunning book.' * Dominic Smith on War and Turpentine * 'Every detail has the heightened luminosity of poetry...War and Turpentine has all the markings of a future classic.' * Neel Mukherjee on War and Turpentine * 'Wonderful, full of astonishingly vivid moments of powerful imagery...[Hertmans] brilliantly captures the intractable reality of a complex man.' * Sunday Times on War and Turpentine *

Author Information

Stefan Hertmans is the prize-winning author of many literary works, including poetry, novels, essays, plays, short stories and a handbook on the history of art. His novel War and Turpentine was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize, and was chosen as a book of the year in The Times, the Sunday Times and the Economist, and as one of the ten best books of the year in the New York Times.

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