Overview

""We and Me is a novel that will haunt me for a long time. Excellent and unforgettable."" Herman Koch, author of The Dinner In this spellbinding novel, which has been compared to the work of Jonathan Franzen, Dave Eggers and Jeffrey Eugenides, Saskia de Coster provides a uniquely European take on the tradition of 'The Great American Novel'. With the family unit and some of life's most pressing questions at its center, the award winning We and Me paints a captivatingly haunting picture of bourgeois family life. Written from several different perspectives, We and Me covers the time period between 1980 and 2013 and focuses on the aristocratic Vandersanden family. Set in their opulent private estate located atop a mountain, neuroses, claustrophobia, scandal and rebellion run rife. At the heart of the family and the novel is Sarah, whose coming of age is both daringly and sensitively explored in de Coster's skillful prose. With her characteristically incisive approach, de Coster excavates the nuanced underbelly of human emotions with humor, understanding and a lightness of touch. We and Me is a remarkable and compelling tale by one of the greatest Belgian writers of our time.

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9781642860047

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Reviews

A family drama unfolds in a wealthy housing estate in Belgian author de Coster's first novel to be translated into English. De Coster is a smart, witty writer with a real talent for storytelling --Kirkus Reviews For people who love Franzen. --Three Percent For years the most stubborn, capricious and attractive pen of Belgium. --Tom Lanoye, author of Speechless The Great Flemish Novel is not dead. It has just been written by Saskia de Coster. We and Me is a novel that will haunt me for a long time. Excellent and unforgettable. --Herman Koch, author of The Dinner As sharp as a knife and with great psychological insight the author investigates the 'we' feeling versus the longing for freedom and individuality. Sarah is a contemporary Emma Bovary or Anna Karenina We and Me is like a breath of fresh air, because of its content as well as its virtuous form and fluent, ironic style. --Opzij Literature Prize Reminiscent of Jonathan Coe's What a Carve Up, Saskia de Coster sends up the Belgian professional class. With piercing observation and wry comment, she depicts the inner insecurities behind the confident fa ade. --Geoff Crocker on Amazon Tender and cruel, Saskia de Coster unravels the illusions of social climbers, in a novel that shows that every unhappy family is still unhappy in its own way. --Tommy Wieringa, author of These are the Names Readers will be thrilled by the eccentric Vandersanden family, and will find plenty of escapism in the green hills of 1980s Belgium. A certain European-ness permeates the novel, which can only add to its appeal. Great American Novels by writers such as Franzen, Dave Eggers and Jeffrey Eugenides remain a strong trend among UK fiction readers, and We and Me could quite easily be considered the European equivalent. de Coster [has] psychological insight, wit and fluency --Bill Godber, UK Bookseller, Book of the Month The book provides a wonderfully witty narrative about family relationships that everyone will be able to relate to in some way: an incredibly accessible novel that is hugely entertaining. --Buzz We and Me, despite being mostly set in Belgium, seems to me very much in the tradition of The Great American Novel : a family at the centre, an extended timespan, a backdrop of key events and some universal questions about humanity. De Coster paints a devastating picture of the modern day nuclear family, revealing how loneliness can be threaded through the most intimate relationships of all. At [de Coster's] best she gets inside the heads of her characters to the extent that the whole world and the images used to portray it are coloured and slanted by their specific neuroses and concerns. --The Writes of Woman De Coster delights in bathos, frequently undercutting her creations' pretensions or delusions with sharp one liners that stay just the right side of bitter...a bold and daring book. We and Me contains startling truths about the way we live and die. To read this story is to be changed by it. --A Year of Reading the World A glimpse into the world of the rich elite and their cocooned lives in luxe suburban homes. Just as you might expect the shining exterior is not all as it seems. --Jera's Jamboree

As sharp as a knife and with great psychological insight the author investigates the 'we' feeling versus the longing for freedom and individuality. Sarah is a contemporary Emma Bovary or Anna Karenina [...] We and Me is like a breath of fresh air, because of its content as well as its virtuous form and fluent, ironic style. Opzij Literature Prize Reminiscent of Jonathan Coe's What a Carve Up, Saskia de Coster sends up the Belgian professional class. With piercing observation and wry comment, she depicts the inner insecurities behind the confident fa ade. -- Geoff Crocker on Amazon Tender and cruel Saskia De Coster unravels the illusions of social climbers, in a novel that shows that every unhappy family is still unhappy in its own way. -- Tommy Wieringa, author of These are the Names For years the most stubborn, capricious and attractive pen of Belgium. -- Tom Lanoye, author of Speechless The Great Flemish Novel is not dead. It has just been written by Saskia de Coster. We and me is a novel that will haunt me for a long time. Excellent and unforgettable. Herman Koch, author of The Dinner Readers will be thrilled by the eccentric Vandersanden family, and will find plenty of escapism in the green hills of 1980s Belgium. A certain European ness permeates the novel, which can only add to its appeal. Great American Novels' by writers such as Franzen, Dave Eggers and Jeffrey Eugenides remain a strong trend among UK fiction readers, and We and Me could quite easily be considered the European equivalent. de Coster [has] psychological insight, wit and fluency -- Bill Godber, UK Bookseller, 'Book of the Month' The book provides a wonderfully witty narrative about family relationships that everyone will be able to relate to in some way: an incredibly accessible novel that is hugely entertaining. -- Buzz We and Me, despite being mostly set in Belgium, seems to me very much in the tradition of 'The Great American Novel' a family at the centre, an extended timespan, a backdrop of key events and some universal questions about humanity. De Coster paints a devastating picture of the modern day nuclear family, revealing how loneliness can be threaded through the most intimate relationships of all. At [Coster's] best she gets inside the heads of her characters to the extent that the whole world and the images used to portray it are coloured and slanted by their specific neuroses and concerns. -- The Writes of Woman De Coster delights in bathos, frequently undercutting her creations' pretensions or delusions with sharp one liners that stay just the right side of bitter. . . a bold and daring book. We and Me contains startling truths about the way we live and die. To read this story is to be changed by it. -- A year of reading the world a glimpse into the world of the rich elite and their cocooned lives in luxe suburban homes. Just as you might expect the shining exterior is not all as it seems. -- Jera's Jamboree

As sharp as a knife and with great psychological insight the author investigates the 'we' feeling versus the longing for freedom and individuality. Sarah is a contemporary Emma Bovary or Anna Karenina [...] We and Me is like a breath of fresh air, because of its content as well as its virtuous form and fluent, ironic style. Opzij Literature Prize Reminiscent of Jonathan Coe's What a Carve Up, Saskia de Coster sends up the Belgian professional class. With piercing observation and wry comment, she depicts the inner insecurities behind the confident fa�ade. -- Geoff Crocker on Amazon Tender and cruel Saskia De Coster unravels the illusions of social climbers, in a novel that shows that every unhappy family is still unhappy in its own way. -- Tommy Wieringa, author of These are the Names For years the most stubborn, capricious and attractive pen of Belgium. -- Tom Lanoye, author of Speechless The Great Flemish Novel is not dead. It has just been written by Saskia de Coster. We and me is a novel that will haunt me for a long time. Excellent and unforgettable. Herman Koch, author of The Dinner Readers will be thrilled by the eccentric Vandersanden family, and will find plenty of escapism in the green hills of 1980s Belgium. A certain European ness permeates the novel, which can only add to its appeal. Great American Novels' by writers such as Franzen, Dave Eggers and Jeffrey Eugenides remain a strong trend among UK fiction readers, and We and Me could quite easily be considered the European equivalent. de Coster [has] psychological insight, wit and fluency -- Bill Godber, UK Bookseller, 'Book of the Month' The book provides a wonderfully witty narrative about family relationships that everyone will be able to relate to in some way: an incredibly accessible novel that is hugely entertaining. -- Buzz We and Me, despite being mostly set in Belgium, seems to me very much in the tradition of 'The Great American Novel' a family at the centre, an extended timespan, a backdrop of key events and some universal questions about humanity. De Coster paints a devastating picture of the modern day nuclear family, revealing how loneliness can be threaded through the most intimate relationships of all. At [Coster's] best she gets inside the heads of her characters to the extent that the whole world and the images used to portray it are coloured and slanted by their specific neuroses and concerns. -- The Writes of Woman De Coster delights in bathos, frequently undercutting her creations' pretensions or delusions with sharp one liners that stay just the right side of bitter. . . a bold and daring book. We and Me contains startling truths about the way we live and die. To read this story is to be changed by it. -- A year of reading the world a glimpse into the world of the rich elite and their cocooned lives in luxe suburban homes. Just as you might expect the shining exterior is not all as it seems. -- Jera's Jamboree

Author Information

SASKIA DE COSTER is a Belgian artist, playwright, and author. We and Me won the Cutting Edge Award and the Opzij Literature Prize and has been nominated for several other prestigious prizes. Her work has been translated into ten languages. NANCY FOREST-FLIER is a New Jerseyborn translator who moved to Europe in 1982 and has worked in the Netherlands since 1988. She lives in Alkmaar. Her literary translations include The King by Kader Abdolah, Dissident for Life by Koenraad de Wolf, Gliding Flight by Anne-Gine Goemans, We and Me by Saskia de Coster, Mr. Miller by Charles den Tex, Departure Time by Truus Matti, Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, and The Story of Shit by Midas Dekkers. Nancy also translates children's literature and has translated for numerous Dutch museums and institutes, including The Anne Frank House and the Krller-Mller Museum (home to the world's second largest Van Gogh collection).

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