In the summer of 2008, South African-British novelist Richard Mason was invited to Amsterdam as Writer in Residence. He frequently visited the Museum Willet-Holthuysen: a 17th century canal house previously owned by passionate art collectors Abraham Willet and Louisa Holthuysen. It inspired him to write his fifth novel, History of a Pleasure Seeker.
History of a Pleasure Seeker (Random House 2011) was well received by the press. It tells the story of a charming and intelligent young man who is taken up by a wealthy family in Amsterdam to tutor their son. The young teacher is determined to climb the social ladder with a little help from his employers, but soon finds his carefully devised future in grave danger. The Dutch translation of this historical novel, De geschiedenis van een genotzoeker, was published by Bezige Bij Publishers.
Richard Mason was born in Johannesburg in 1977, but moved to England at the age of 10. At 18 he published his debut The Drowning People. The novel became an instant success: it sold more than 4 million copy’s worldwide and was translated in 22 languages. His much acclaimed novel The Lighted Rooms was published in 2008.
