Intimacies

An interpreter has come to The Hague to escape New York and work at the International Court. A woman of many languages and identities, she is looking for a place to finally call home.

She's drawn into simmering personal dramas. Her lover, Adriaan, is separated from his wife but still entangled in his marriage.

Her friend Jana witnesses a seemingly random act of violence, a crime the interpreter becomes increasingly obsessed with as she befriends the victim's sister.

And she's pulled into an explosive political controversy when she's asked to interpret for a former president accused of war crimes.

She is soon pushed to the precipice, where betrayal and heartbreak threaten to overwhelm her, forcing her to decide what she wants from her life.

One of Barack Obama's Favourite 2021 Reads
A New York Times Top 10 Book of 2021

'One of my favourite novels of the past few years' Caleb Azumah Nelson

'The thrill of Intimacies is in the taut precision of its language, which rings and hums off the page. It's forensic and inquiring, but also bright and alive. You forget to breathe while reading it, and feel with each crafted sentence, each building thought, that you're in the company of a magnificent writer.' Samantha Harvey