First published 2021
An interpreter arrives at the International Court in The Hague, seeking refuge from her former life in New York. She speaks many languages and has lived in many places, but has never found somewhere to belong. At the Court, she translates for a former president facing war crimes charges. The work unsettles her as language shifts meaning and her relationship with the accused grows complicated. Her personal life proves equally turbulent. She becomes involved with Adriaan, a man still married though separated from his wife. When her friend Jana witnesses a random act of violence, the interpreter grows fixated on the crime and befriends the victim's sister. She finds herself caught between multiple truths in her work and relationships. The interpreter holds power as the voice others depend on, yet this same position leaves her exposed. As political tensions rise at the Court and her personal entanglements deepen, she faces betrayal and heartbreak that push her to a breaking point.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: The Hague, New York
Period: 21st-century
227 pages · Hardcover · Jonathan Cape
Content warnings: anxiety, emotional-abuse