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|
The
2004 Award
|
|
The
Dream Room by
Marcel Moring |
Nominated by:
Publisher
of Nominated Edition:
|
| the complete A-Z listing of nominated authors |
|
ABOUT
THE BOOK
|
| Twelve-year-old
David lives with his mother and father above a toyshop in a small Dutch
town. On the same day that the toy shop owner complains yet again that he
can't sell model aeroplane kits any longer because kids nowadays are too
lazy to glue all the pieces together, David's father - an engineer and ex
WWII pilot - quits his job for the umpteenth time. A few hours later, his
mother comes home, having left her job too.
So,
David devises a plan - and before the day is over the whole family is
at home, putting model aeroplanes together for the toyshop owner to sell.
A long, rainy Dutch summer ensues, in which mother, father and son work
alongside each other. They've never been so close, never felt so secure.
Then one night, David hears his father's voice, full of surprise, and
the next morning there's a visitor at the breakfast table, Humbert Coe,
an old wartime friend. The unexpected arrival of this charming and worldly
man revives old feelings of loyalty, love and hatred - and ensures that
nothing will ever return to a perfect state again. A warm, funny, elegiac
story of a family's journey from innocence to experience. |
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
| Marcel Möring was born in 1957 in Enschede, Holland. He is the author of three novels, Mendel, The Great Longing (which received Holland's most prestigious prize, the AKO) and In Babylon. His work has been translated into many languages. He lives in Rotterdam with his wife and children. |
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