The Edges

(Paperback)

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Description

A man returns to his hometown to clear out the flat of his recently deceased mother. While there, he cannot resist visiting his former lover. As the storm rages in the night outside, he finds in the man's embrace some kind of quiet; some kind of home.


As we are drawn into the narrator's past, we see how a childhood marked by abuse and a life lived on the edges can shape someone - and what respite and beauty can be found in love and trust. Unsentimental yet aching with longing and vulnerability, Angelo Tijssens' The Edges is a deeply humane and moving debut.

Reviews

'A book that feels like heartache - at once tender & violent, intimate & lyrical, The Edges conjures itself in flowing temporal rhythms, immersing the reader in the night-lit, wintery ache of love.' - Sen Hewitt
'A hovering wounded story of unending love and fear and pain that saturates the reader in silence and memory . . . Unmissable.' - David Hayden
'A deeply affecting meditation on the deprivation of love. Like a meeting of douard Louis and Garth Greenwell. ' - Michael Amherst
'A powerful gem, written with great precision, lurching between love and violence.' - De Standaard
'Succinct and understated writing, deeply human and full of suppressed anguish.' - Feeling
'A hit. I'm hugely impressed by this strong debut.' - Het Nieuwsblad
'The Edges had me gripped from the very start. Tijssens has created a beguiling world filled with reckoning and melancholic sensuality. A masterfully crafted novella that leaves you wanting more.' - Tomasz Jdrowski
'A modern masterpiece. . . Bursts with sensuality & deep emotion . . . The feelings are timeless, & portrayed in evocative, pared-back style. ' - Telegraph
'A tender story of love and longing.' - Monocle
'This piercing shard of a novel nods to Shuggie Bain ... Quietly unforgettable.' - Daily Mail
'That duality, the push-me-pull-me hesitancy between child and adult, between that of our inner and outer lives - who we wish to be seen as and what we are desperate to hide - is explored beautifully in this sensitive debut.' - Marie Claire
'An impressive debut.' - TLS

Author Bio

Angelo Tijssens studied theatre at the Antwerp Conservatorium. He was director Lukas Dhont's co-writer on award-winning feature films Girl and Close. De randen (The Edges) is his debut novel. It has been translated into Spanish, French and German, won the jury prize at the Prix Roman Gay in France and was shortlisted for the Bronzen Uil in the Netherlands. He lives in Antwerp.


Michele Hutchison is an Amsterdam-based translator, editor and writer. She has translated more than forty books from Dutch including the winner of the 2020 International Booker Prize,The Discomfort of Eveningby Lucas Rijneveld. She is co-author ofThe Happiest Kids in the Worldand author ofThe North Wind(poetry).