Maya Rasker (b. 1965) wrote articles and essays for the daily newspaper Trouw and other publications before debuting in 2000 with the novel Met onbekende bestemming (Unknown Destination). The book won her the Gouden Ezelsoor (Golden Dog-Ear), the prize for the year’s best-selling literary debut. She has further published the novels Rekwisieten (Props, 2003) and Xenia (2005). Her work has been translated into English, German, Spanish and Hungarian.
(Prometheus, 2000, 220 pages)
Maya Rasker’s intriguing and thrilling tale has elicited praise from all quarters. Met onbekende bestemming is, without doubt, one of the best debut novels of the past year. The theme of a wife and mother who suddenly goes missing is treated in a surprising fashion; the book is an extraordinary blend of reality and imagination, fact and fiction. The central fact is the puzzling story of a woman who went out to buy a packet of cigarettes on the evening of her daughter’s sixth birthday and never returned.
