The bracing and inventive new novel of suspicions and secrecy from Herman Koch, the New York Times bestselling author of The Dinner
When Robert Walter, popular mayor of Amsterdam, sees his wife toss her head back with laughter while chatting to one of his aldermen at a New Year’s reception, he immediately suspects the worst. Despite their long and happy marriage, Robert is convinced that Sylvia is cheating on him—with the respectable alderman who is dedicated to the environment, no less. The man who wants to spoil the capital’s skyline with wind turbines.
The New Year’s reception marks the end of the “happy family” era that the mayor has enjoyed for so long. His wife and their daughter, Diana, however, are not aware of his suspicions and carry on as usual. Robert starts spending a lot of time and energy “behaving normally.” Naturally, his normal behavior is far more suspicious. Normally Robert’s not really present when he’s at home—he’s preoccupied with his phone, the newspapers, and his own thoughts. But now Robert is so sure he’ll miss the clues if he doesn’t pay attention that he starts to be almost alarmingly attentive and interested—ultimately losing himself in increasingly panicked and paranoid trains of thought.
Written with Herman Koch’s trademark originality, playfulness, and edge, The Ditch is a wildly clever—and guttingly familiar—story of a man whose sadistic skill for undermining himself and his marriage comes to cost him nearly everything.
SELLING BEAUTIFULLY ABROAD: In its first month, The Ditch sold more than 60,000 copies in Holland, and rights have been sold to Australia, Lithuania, Germany, and Spain. The Dutch reviews have also been glowing: “Herman Koch…shows yet again why he is the master of suspense and open endings.”
TIMELY AND PAGE-TURNING SUBJECT: While the real subject is jealousy and marital discord, The Ditch is also set in the cutthroat world of politics, featuring an untrustworthy narrator whose desire for power in all its forms may prove to be his undoing.
AN EXCITING NOVEL FROM A HOUSEHOLD NAME: Koch’s previous titles continue to sell very well for us—we’ve sold more than half a million to date—and his readers will be ready and waiting for another one of his brilliant classics.
HERMAN KOCH is the author of seven novels and three collections of short stories. The Dinner, his sixth novel, has been published in twenty-five countries and was the winner of the Publieksprijs Prize in 2009. He currently lives in Amsterdam.
Author Residence: Amsterdam
Marketing: Promotion on author’s website, hermankoch.com
Targeted buzz mailings to author’s VIPs
Enrollment in early reviewer programs
Features on ReadItForward.com and Signature-Reads.com
Library and academic marketing
Publicity: National publicity
National review and feature attention
National/regional NPR campaign
Author Website: www.hermankoch.com/