Ten-year-old Jas has a unique way of experiencing her universe: the feeling of udder ointment on her skin as protection against harsh winters; the texture of green warts, like capers, on migrating toads; the sound of 'blush words' that aren't in the Bible. But when a tragic accident ruptures the family, her curiosity warps into a vortex of increasingly disturbing fantasies - unlocking a darkness that threatens to derail them all. Marieke Lucas Rijneveld is a Dutch writer, born 20 April 1991, in Nieuwendijk, Netherlands. Rijneveld won the 2020 International Booker Prize together with translator Michele Hutchison for the debut novel The Discomfort of Evening. Rijneveld is the first Dutch author to win the prize and only the third Dutch author to be nominated.