| Translator | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Pages | 240 |
| US ISBN | 978-1-64286-127-3 |
| UK ISBN | 978-1-912987-51-1 |
| Ebook ISBN | 978-1-64286-130-3 |
| Region | |
| US publication date | August 1, 2023 |
| UK publication date | August 3, 2023 |
| Price | $17.99, £13.99 |
We Are Light
$17.99
Look at things from their perspective
In the middle of a summer night, Elisabeth, the oldest resident of the Sound & Love Commune, dies. Her sister Melodie and their two other housemates are arrested: the group’s attempts to stop eating and start living on light and love alone appear to have been fatal to Elisabeth. From unworldly idealists on the fringes of society, the remaining three suddenly become suspects in a criminal case. Through the eyes of the night, the neighbors, doubt, the scent of an orange, and many other characters and entities, we see how each of those involved gives a different answer to the question of how Elisabeth came to die. Who is to blame? And does the commune still have a future? We Are Light is a highly original and entertaining novel about manipulation, vulnerability, and trying to be better.
Details
Author
Gerda Blees
Gerda Blees is a Dutch author and poet. She taught at various universities for several years while doing linguistic research on … Read more
Book Club Questions
Book Club Questions
- Who do you think was responsible for Elisabeth’s death?
- To what extent is a group responsible for the well-being of the individual?
- What does it mean to be part of a (residential) group? What do you think are the differences between such terms as community, commune, and cult, and where do you think the group Sound & Love lies?
- How do you view Melodie? Is she cruel, or is she also a vulnerable person? What do you think are her motivations?
- Due to her death at the start of the novel, Elisabeth is the character we know the least. What can you gauge about her personality from the clues given?
- What are your opinions of the siblings in the chapter that begins ‘We are the Hellingens’?
- Each of the chapters takes on a different perspective: Did you have any favorites? Were there any you thought worked less well than the others?
- What do you think the role of the police should be in such a situation? Was anyone to blame? Should anyone have been punished? Should there have even been an investigation? Did your opinion of the investigative procedure change over the course of the novel?
- How do you think Muriel and Petrus changed in the aftermath of the death and the consequent investigation, and do you think those changes will be lasting?
- The novel ends quite openly. What do you think happens next?
- This book is based on a true story and on a real-life movement called Breatharianism. Did you know this before reading? Does this knowledge change anything? How do you feel about such groups? And why do you think people are drawn to them?
- What do you believe in? What are your ideals? And how far would you go to achieve them?
- Are ideals always achievable, or are they by definition unattainable?
Press Quotes
Press Quotes
Praise for We Are Light
“An ingenious and highly original composition. What emerges is a beautiful, soulful, rich, and relevant portrait of what people are looking for when they reject science, of what people can do to themselves, just to stay together, to be part of a herd, a group, a ‘we.’”
Jury, Libris Literature Prize
“This novel has a good chance of becoming the most remarkable and formally innovative debut novel of the spring. It’s a remarkable novel, and, despite its oppressive subject, a true pleasure to read.”
Der Standard
“Convincingly, Gerda Blees finds her meticulously narrated way through the mine field of fashionable trends.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“A penetrating psychological text that plumbs the depths of human deception of ourselves and others.”
Die Presse
“An excellent novel. The stunning final chapter will leave readers gasping for air.”
VPRO Gids
“The changing perspective allows Blees to zoom in, zoom out, conceal, and reveal. It’s a game loaded with unexpected tension. You’re taken by surprise time and again.”
NRC Handelsblad
“It’s nice when a writer has the guts to do something different, but it’s priceless when this unconventionality has added value and leads to a unique novel.”
De Volkskrant
“It’s brilliant how Blees manages to turn the ‘we are …’ every chapter starts with into the book’s main theme. You feel that you’re holding something remarkable in your hands.”
Trouw
“She sets the tone with ever-changing perspectives, sometimes drily comical, often also touching and very human; she colors the story of the people who want to live on light and air in an entirely novel way.”
Het Parool
“Blees masters the art of taking the reader by the hand and leading them past successive stages of concern, outrage, and resignation. She subtly calls into question the judgments we pass on idealistic people such as the novel’s protagonists, and she allows us to empathize with people we initially thought we’d never be able to relate to.”
Tzum
“The stream of consciousness that runs through Elisabeth’s demented mother’s head is brilliant.”
Knack
“It sounds crazy but the talented Blees pulls it off: her story alternates between the perspectives of, for instance, a slow juicer, a cello, a demented mother, or the crime scene. An unconventional reading experience.”
De Morgen
“A dramatic but humorous story about how people can lose themselves in an ideal.”
HP/De Tijd
“A pageturner that isn’t just suspenseful, but also very relevant and exquisitely narrated.”
FM4 (Austria)
“Original and astonishing!”
MDR Kultur
Why You Should Read This Book
Why You Should Read This Book
“When I read in the newspaper about a woman who had died from malnutrition because she and her housemates wanted to live without food, I was immediately intrigued. Their ideal of living on light and air denies one of the most basic facts of life: that we need food to survive. Why would someone, even a group of people, make such an extreme choice? And how can it be that no one is able to convince them otherwise? These were the questions I wanted to explore by writing this novel.”
GERDA BLEES, the author
“The fun of translating this novel had to do with the 25 different perspectives from which the story is told. Each chapter necessitated a different voice, and while creating a credible English voice for human characters is what I normally do as a translator, figuring out how a pen would speak, or giving a voice to the smell of oranges, was quite an unusual challenge.”
MICHELE HUTCHISON, the translator
“This unconventional and innovative novel, based on a true story, tells a magnificent tale of how people can lose themselves in an ideal. The narrative itself is suspenseful, but the polyphonic perspective is even more enthralling and, surprisingly, totally convincing. I would never have expected to be able to believe a story told by the scent of an orange, or a pen, the night, our daily bread, dementia, or doubt, but in Blees’s hands it works. This book stayed with me for a long time after reading.”
JUDITH UYTERLINDE, the publisher