Summary of The Discomfort of EveningÂ
Ten-year-old Jas lives with her family on a dairy farm in the Netherlands. Her brother Matthies has died in an ice-skating accident, leaving the family struggling to cope with their grief. Raised in a strictly “Reformed” Protestant family, and with the farm facing financial hardship, Jas grows up in an atmosphere of emotional coldness and oppression. The novel portrays how this tormented and sensitive girl navigates her way through life, guilt, and sexuality.
Reasons to read The Discomfort of Evening
“The Discomfort of Evening” is a poetic but unsettling novel about a young girl who grows up on a farm within a dogmatic family unable to express emotions. The novel delves into themes such as the loss of a beloved sibling, the hardships of farm life, cruelty to animals, guilt, faith, loneliness, and sexual experimentation, which extends to abuse and incest. It is a story about loneliness and oppression within a Dutch Calvinist peasant family, reminiscent of earlier works by Jan Siebelink (“In My Father’s Garden”), Gerbrand Bakker (“The Twin”), and Jan Wolkers (“Turkish Delight”). Lucas Rijneveld (formerly Marieke Lucas Rijneveld) is a Dutch novelist and poet who won the International Booker Prize in 2020 for this debut novel (alongside translator Michele Hutchison). Rijneveld became the first Dutch author, and the youngest one, to win the International Booker Prize. The novel is partially inspired by events from the author’s own youth.
Setting: Friesland (the Netherlands)
The location is not explicitly stated, but the farm is likely situated in Friesland, based on postcodes and other elements mentioned in the novel.
Original title: De avond is ongemak
Year of publication: 2018
Nr of pages: 282
