3.0
While the Gods Were Sleeping
ByPublisher Description
Best Translated Fiction of the Year, The Independent
This stunning historical fiction novel about the magnitude and impact of World War I—told through the written memories of an elderly Belgian woman—has “the footprint of Proust . . . on every page” (Financial Times)
As a girl, Helena is sent to her uncle’s country house just before the Great War, and from here she witnesses scenes of indescribable horror. But it is also where she meets Matthew again—a British Army photographer who she goes on to marry. Decades later, the elderly Helena reflects on this pivotal time in her life, recording her memories in a series of notebooks . . .
While the Gods Were Sleeping a story not about spectacular events; rather, author Erwin Mortier is concerned with writing about war, history, and the past with great empathy and engagement, and with a mixture of melancholy, qualification, and resignation.
This stunning historical fiction novel about the magnitude and impact of World War I—told through the written memories of an elderly Belgian woman—has “the footprint of Proust . . . on every page” (Financial Times)
As a girl, Helena is sent to her uncle’s country house just before the Great War, and from here she witnesses scenes of indescribable horror. But it is also where she meets Matthew again—a British Army photographer who she goes on to marry. Decades later, the elderly Helena reflects on this pivotal time in her life, recording her memories in a series of notebooks . . .
While the Gods Were Sleeping a story not about spectacular events; rather, author Erwin Mortier is concerned with writing about war, history, and the past with great empathy and engagement, and with a mixture of melancholy, qualification, and resignation.
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About Erwin Mortier
Erwin Mortier, author of My Fellow Skin (2000) and Shutterspeed (2002) and the novella All Days Together (2004), quickly established his reputation as one of the leading authors of his generation. For While the Gods Were Sleeping (2008), a novel set against the backdrop of the First World War, he was awarded the prestigious AKO Literature Prize 2009. A consummate stylist, he offers evocative descriptions that bring past worlds brilliantly to life.
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