{"title":"Otto De Kat","description":"\u003cp\u003eDiscover Otto de Kat's beautifully rendered historical fiction, exploring themes of memory, loss, and the enduring impact of war. Perfect for readers seeking thoughtful, character-driven narratives and evocative prose.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"julia-book-otto-de-kat-9780857050557","title":"Julia","description":"One summer's afternoon in 1981, a factory owner, Christiaan Dudok, is found dead in his study having taken his own life. He has left no suicide note, but on his desk is a newspaper from 2 April 1942, reporting on the bombing of the north German town of Lubeck. The list of the dead includes the highlighted name of Julia Bender. As a young man finishing his studies in Lubeck in 1938, Christiaan is irresistibly drawn to Julia, a courageous German who has emphatically rejected the Nazi regime. But that same year he is forced to leave both Germany and the woman he loves, even though he suspects that he is making the greatest mistake of his life. Julia is the story of a life lived wrongly, of a love so great that it endures for decades, and yet still fails. Fear of life and loss of courage, and terrifying inhuman fanaticism are the compelling themes explored in Otto de Kat's elegantly accomplished, elegiac novel.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49552433938705,"sku":"GOR003279781","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0857050559.jpg?v=1751265646"},{"product_id":"julia-book-otto-de-kat-9780857051110","title":"Julia","description":"From the moment he meets Julia, Christiaan Dudok is dangerously close to love. But their first date is interrupted by S.A. Brownshirts storming into the cafe. It is 1937, and Germany is heading for war and fanaticism. 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She marries Bruno, they have two sons, and she determines to block out the years she spent in Nazi Berlin during the war, with her first husband Carl.   But now, ninety-six years old and on the eve of her death, long- forgotten memories crowd again into her consciousness, flashbacks of happier years, and the tragedy of the war, of Carl, of her father, and of the friends she has lost.   In The Longest Night, his impressive, reflective new novel after News from Berlin, Otto de Kat deftly distils momentous events of 20th-century history into the lives of his characters. In Emma, the past and the present coincide in limpid fragments of rare, melancholy beauty.  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A date and a codename, and the fate of nations is placed in Verschuur's hands: June 22, Barbarossa.   What should he do? Warn the world, or put his daughter's safety first? The Gestapo are watching them both. And with Stalin lulled by his alliance with Hitler, will anyone even listen?   Otto de Kat is fast gaining a reputation as one of Europe's sharpest and most lucid writers. News from Berlin, a book for all readers, a true page-turner driven by the pulse of a ticking clock, confirms him as a storyteller of subtly extravagant gifts.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49567626428689,"sku":"GOR006471775","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53269980840209,"sku":"GOR006402637","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1848662343.jpg?v=1751155068"},{"product_id":"man-on-the-move-book-otto-de-kat-9781906694081","title":"Man on the Move","description":"In Janaury 1935, Rob, a young Dutch man, departs to Capetown in search of adventure and escape from his bourgeois roots. After a stint in the brutal diamond mines of South Africa, Rob heads to Java to join the Dutch army making a last stand against the Japanese. 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A date and a codename, and the fate of nations is placed in Verschuur's hands: June 22, Barbarossa.   What should he do? Warn the world, or put his daughter's safety first? The Gestapo are watching them both. And with Stalin lulled by his alliance with Hitler, will anyone even listen?   Otto de Kat is fast gaining a reputation as one of Europe's sharpest and most lucid writers. News from Berlin, a book for all readers, a true page-turner driven by the pulse of a ticking clock, confirms him as a storyteller of subtly extravagant gifts.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49628779413777,"sku":"GOR005421542","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50097063198993,"sku":"GOR013854194","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0857052683.jpg?v=1751330183"},{"product_id":"man-on-the-move-book-otto-de-kat-9781849164009","title":"Man on the Move","description":"In January 1935, Rob, a young Dutchman, departs to Capetown in search of adventure. After a brutal stint in the diamond mines, Rob sails to Java to join up in the Dutch army which is making a last stand against the Japanese invading army. Here he meets a fellow Dutchman, Guus, in whom he finds a soul mate, the best friend he will ever have.   They are soon captured by the Japanese. Together they survive the hell of labouring on the Burma railway, and together they leap off their ship when it is torpedoed. Rob never sees his friend again, but he spends his life unable to find peace with the shadow of the past hanging over him, unable to accept love, unable to forgive himself for his imagined failings.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49658805715217,"sku":"GOR006185037","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49921302855953,"sku":"GOR003967877","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1849164002.jpg?v=1751412562"},{"product_id":"freetown-book-otto-de-kat-9781529401622","title":"Freetown","description":"\"He was a Fula. I say 'was', because I haven't seen him for a long time. I don't know if he's still alive or where he might be. He just disappeared.\"  Maria is independent, unconventional and unafraid. She is trying to find an explanation for the disappearance of Ishmael, a refugee from Sierra Leone who came to her door as a newspaper boy and stayed for seven years. He was like a son to her. Vincent is a psychologist. Once he and Maria had an all-encompassing relationship, but since their break-up he has been living in a kind of haze. One day, Maria asks for his help.   In the encounters that follow, Ishmael is pushed into the background by a rekindling of the old love between Vincent and Maria. The stories and memories that resurface come to replace the sadness at the loss of the boy. But despite the distraction of their new situation, Ishmael proves impossible to forget.  Otto de Kat is known for concise novels that are beautifully observed, subtle and precise, and Freetown is no exception.   Translated from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson  Laura Watkinson is a translator from Dutch, Italian and German whose translations include works by Cees Nooteboom, Jan van Mersbergen, Tonke Dragt and Peter Terrin.  With the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49660678537489,"sku":"GOR013695119","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49669073666321,"sku":"GOR011266483","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1529401623.jpg?v=1750957941"},{"product_id":"news-from-berlin-book-otto-de-kat-9781681444970","title":"News from Berlin","description":"In War time Europe Dutch diplomat Oscar Verschuur has been posted to neutral Switzerland. His family is spread across Europe. 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