Tooth Hunter

Not many writers can combine social criticism, literary imagination and a propulsive story as skillfully as storyteller extraordinaire Auke Hulst. Tooth Hunter starts off as the painfully relatable story of a brilliant conman who steals the teeth of the dead, but ends up delivering an astute critique of capitalism, a system in which the powerful bleed the masses dry and transcending one’s origins proves time and again to be no more than a pipe dream.

Vos Jacobsz is a highly intelligent young man who rails against the subservient position that seems to be his birthright. As the illegitimate son of a nobleman, he feels he is entitled to a better life. He tries to attain that life by robbing the dead on the battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars of their teeth, which the privileged hen have implanted. . But everything changes when he finds a dead soldier whose teeth are so beautiful he decides to have them replanted into his own mouth. He sets out to find the dead soldier’s beloved. He tracks down this Margaux – named after a red wine, and not without reason as it turns out – in the heart of Amsterdam and finagles his way into her elevated circles. This culminates in a number of unforgettable seduction scenes, with Hulst always keeping the readers on the edge of their seat.

In this way Vos manages to ingratiate himself with the rich and powerful. But Hulst brilliantly exposes how that essentially means keeping the company of people who live off the blood of others. Vos tries to hold his own but is found out when he sinks his teeth into a young woman – with fatal consequences. He is forced to realize that no matter how resourceful he is, he will never be part of the elite. Meritocracy turns out to be a myth – not just for Vos, but for everyone who has not been fortunate enough to be born into privilege.

In the final part of the novel, set in the former Dutch colony of Suriname, we see how skillfully Hulst weaves this personal story into the history of colonialism and capitalism. With real mastery, he takes readers on a journey, until they reach a point where they no longer know whether to feel despondent or furious. One thing, is certain, this novel stays with you long after reading.