MAARTEN ’T HART

THE PSALM REVOLT (HET PSALMENOPROER)

‘’t Hart is a brilliant craftsman, but he is more than that. He is also a great artist’ Het Parool

In 1773 in The Netherlands there was an attempt to change the way psalms had been sung for centuries. Traditionally they had been sung in such a way that a verse could last 15 minutes with end tones held for a long long time. They wanted to replace these long notes with short ones, implement a more upbeat tempo with short pauses between verses possibly filled with organ music, generally simplify the songs. Right across Holland people revolted. In Zeeland the consequences were serious but the worst was in Vlaardingen and especially in Maasluis (the scene of most of ‘t Hart’s novels). In the end the mayor had to come from Delft with an army to restore peace. Maarten ‘t Hart’s atmospheric and utterly gripping tale follows the life of a small ship-owner, a man who follows his heart one time and ends up having his life dictated by the consequences. ‘t Hart captures brilliantly how violence can breed violence and how people use religion to get back at the more privileged, those the poor feel have it all, the marginalized versus the establishment. ‘t Hart channels it all through a story of love, family loyalties, fishing and village life. Big themes, rooted in historical fact, a real epic tale that is thoroughly engaging because it’s made personal.

Material: Finished copies (288 pages)

Sales: De Arbeiderspers NL (original publisher, published August 2006); Piper Verlag Germany; Atlantis Sweden.


THE SUNDIAL (DE ZONNEWIJZER)

Nominated for the 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

'Reading Maarten 't Hart is pure pleasure. THE SUNDIAL is a great story.' De Groene Amsterdammer "t Hart excels as a humorist, as proven by the exceptionally sly, unpredictable and bizarre plot of this balmy whodunit.' Vrij Nederland 'An extremely lively novel.' NRC Handelsblad 'The irony sparkles...side-splittingly funny...compellingly suspenseful...' GPD 'Hart's novel is a cooly downbeat piece of work, its mysteries arriving at a satisfying convoluted conclusion.' The Times

'Rose was dead and I didn't know what to wear.'

Leonie Kuyper's best friend, Rose, dies, apparently from sunstroke. She leaves everything to Leonie, with just one demand – that Leonie will take the best possible care of her three cats. Moving in to her apartment to fulfil this duty, Leonie soon finds herself attracted to the idea of occupying the identity vacated by her friend. Gradually, as she starts her life in impersonation of the dead Rose, Leonie realises what Rose's life must really have involved, and the uncertainty surrounding exactly how she died. Leonie starts looking for answers, 't Hart casually increasing the tension. Was Rose, a chemist, involved in the manufacture of the illegal drug Ecstasy? Had Rose discovered that research findings were being falsified at her work place? The question arises: did Rose really die from simple sunstroke after all?

A novel for anyone who has ever wanted to take over someone else’s life and wear their clothes, an ingenious and utterly compelling murder mystery, as "fascinating and highly readable" as Patricia Highsmith found 't Hart's earlier work.

Material: Finished copies (237 pages)

Sales: De Arbeiderspers NL (original publisher); Piper/Arche Germany; Atlantis Sweden; Arcadia UK & USA; Livros do Brasil Portugal; Zagrebacka Naklada Croatia; Wydawnictwo Dolnoslaskie Poland; Sandesh Bangladesh.

Film Rights: Network Movies (NL)

THE RAGE OF THE ENTIRE WORLD
(HET WOEDE DER GEHELE WERELD)

'The book that you always wanted, as is revealed when you sit down and submerge yourself in a fascinating world. Such books are rarely written.' Der Spiegel

Based on the murder in 1956 of policeman, during an evangelisation campaign in Maassluis. Goudveyl, son of a rag dealer, witnesses the murder which was never solved. Through him we are given a wittily sketched picture of a working-class neighbourhood. His interest in the murder takes him back in time and he finally arrives at an explanation that has more to do with himself than he realises. A fascinating literary whodunit. Material: Finished copies (311 pages) & English sample. Sales: Arbeiderspers NL (original publisher); Lumen Spain; Longanesi Italy; Arche Verlag/Piper Germany; Belfond France; Atlantis Sweden; Karolinum Czech Republic; Dulnyouk Korea. Film rights with Rob Houwer.

LOTTE WEEDA

'Maarten 't Hart is a top craftsman, and LOTTE WEEDA is again a top book.' Parool

A powerful new novel about fate, delusion and mass hysteria.

In a community in the south of Holland, a woman takes pictures of random villagers. She's putting a book of photos together. One old man is deeply affected by the photographer. He imagines that the children from his first and second marriages are not his. While his delusion takes on more and more tragic proportions and finally results in his death, the photo book is published. Initially the old photographed villagers are very happy with it but soon after publication the villagers begin to die one after another. Does being included in the book mean a death sentence or is it an illusion? The narrator, as he is pulled into the misery of others, begins to worry that he too has been marked for death now that his photo is in the book.

Throughout all the tragic-comic events there are also partial and complete love stories. And in the background the drastic consequences of delusions on a governmental level: diseases break out leading to millions of animals having to be destroyed.

Material: Finished copies

Sales: De Arbeiderspers NL (original publisher); Piper Verlag Germany.

Previous Publishers: Artia Denmark; Longanesi Italy; Belfond France; Lumen Spain; Karolinum Czech Republic

THE AFTERTHOUGHT (DE NAKOMER)

An innocent love story turns sour when pharmacist Simon Minderhout is accused of being a traitor.

Film Rights: De Nakomer/ The Afterthought - Jonathan Kelly TAT Films

Maarten 't Hart's story "Midsummer in April" was featured in GRANTA 83 (This Overheating World) September 2003. A second story, "Rats", relating 't Hart's role as advisor on rats during the filming of Werner Herzog's 1979 remake of "Nosferatu" appeared in Granta 86 (Film). Granta have commissioned a third piece 'The weather where we are' which will appear in the next edition. Maarten 't Hart was born in 1944 in Maasluis in a strict Reformed (Calvinist) family, a milieu he later escaped. He studied biology with a thesis on the behaviour of the three spiked stickleback. His writing career started in 1971 but his breakthrough came in 1978 with the his novel EEN VLUGT REGENWULPEN (now over a million copies sold). A film is in production. His themes include music (in particular Bach) nature and literature. He is on several prize juries – for example the AKO prize. With the publication of his novel HET WOEDE DER GEHELE WERELD, winner of the Gouden Strop 1994 for the best suspense novel, sales hit two million and they are still climbing.