Alone together: Saskia De Coster’s new novel questions isolation in a crowd
An apartment building full of people is the backdrop for Flemish novelist Saskia De Coster’s latest work, exploring both the distances and the intimacy we share with those around us
Our house
Wat wij alleen horen (What Only We Hear) starts with an eviction notice, telling the residents of the Atlasgebouw that they have seven months to vacate the premises before the building is demolished. De Coster (pictured) focuses on the people living on the first floor, with the others making cameo appearances.
There’s Melanie, a burnt-out single mum who loses it at the thought of having to arrange a move. Her son, Claus, retreats into his own little world. The elderly George, who Claus has sort of adopted, has other things to worry about; dementia is taking over his life.
Concierge Anton is busy falling in love, just like his sister, Erin, who is struggling with her feelings for her beautiful new neighbour Lou as well as trying to write her second novel.
“I wanted to write something about contemporary society,” De Coster tells me. “You can either write about millions of people or select a few, and an apartment building is a perfect microcosm of people that are representative of Western Europe.”
Interlinked lives
De Coster has lived in such a building, and her initial idea for Wat wij alleen horen was to relay a story she experienced: sharing an unintentional intimacy with her neighbours after seeing one of them jump out of a window. “People are aware of their proximity to each other,” she says, “and they either try to avoid one another or to bond because of their common habitat. Those underlying tensions fascinate me.”
Wat wij alleen horen casts a multitude of voices, creating a tangled web of interlinked stories. “It’s like when you’re on a bus,” De Coster says. “Everyone has their own story, but you just sit there staring at your fellow passengers making stuff up about who they are, where they’re going...
Great change has always come from those who dared to dream
“All those stories become intertwined, and that’s the beauty, and also the tragedy, of such situations. People are packed together so tightly together in the Western world without ever having a clue who is living right next door.”
De Coster has, however, given all the characters their own stories, pasts and possible futures – even the most minor character who simply pops up in a memory. “Without stories, we’d be nowhere,” she says. “Where once people wrote letters or in a journal, now stories are something we find everywhere, particularly on social media. People create their identity or story by what they show or don’t show on Facebook, for instance. We need stories to dream, to think and even to evolve. Great change has always come from those who dared to dream.”
Imagination is crucial for several of the book’s characters as a way to cope with their unravelling situations. “For some, change isn’t a big deal,” De Coster continues, “but others will crumble at the notion that their lives are about to change – especially if the change wasn’t their choice.”
Work in progress
Melanie, for instance, doesn’t cope well with the news that she and Claus have to leave. She wants to protect him and provide a stable home. “Everyone has their own reaction, and the way someone reacts in a crisis says a lot about that person,” notes De Coster. “Identity evolves according to your situation and experiences, so you never know how you’re going to react. Some will take it in their stride, others will turn their backs on the demolition of their home – or our society.”
De Coster finds being flexible a very positive thing. After all, “you’ll always be a work in progress”.
Her previous novel, Wij en ik (We and I), was a bestseller, something of a rarity in Flemish fiction, creating high expectations for whatever this next book. But the author wasn’t fazed by the pressure.
“Having a bestseller is fun, but it doesn’t make the writing process any easier – or any harder,” she says. “It just increases the chances that people are waiting for my next novel. There’s no foolproof formula. I just do what comes naturally and hope for the best.”
Wat wij alleen horen tackles some crucial contemporary issues such as identity, isolation, change and the adaptability of the human spirit. By creating such an explosive cast of tortured souls whose lives are all intertwined by their habitat and sealed fate, De Coster has also written an ode to imagination and to writing in particular.
Wat wij alleen horen is a joy to read, and, with it, De Coster has further cemented her place as one of Flanders’ best authors working today.
Photo: Johan Jacobs
More new fiction this month
Jacht (Hunt)
Elvis Peeters • Podium
Flemish rocker Jos Verlooy and his wife, Nicole van Bael (the writers behind pen name Elvis Peeters), have created another riveting tale. This time they’ve given animals a human side – and vice versa. A young fox wants to escape the forest, a pit bull wants to seduce his mate, and the tension grows between humans Erik and Karla. Erik tries to cover up his killing of a family of deer, while Karla falls for the charms of her pit bull boss. Complex, strange and ingenious, Jacht is a masterful morality tale. ★★★★
De onervarenen (The Inexperienced)
Joke van Leeuwen • Querido
Joke van Leeuwen, Dutch author and former Antwerp city poet, has created a new society in her latest novel. With her trademark smouldering sentences and visual flair, she tells the tale of Odile, the daughter of a single mother who is locked up in an asylum somewhere in the middle of the 19th century. Forced to fend for herself, Odile moves in with farmer Koben, but after a failed harvest their future seems unsure. Together with 50 others, they make a treacherous sea voyage to the other side of the ocean to start again. ★★★☆
Het oor van Malchus (Malchus’ Ear)
Pieter Aspe • Manteau
Pieter Aspe’s crime-fighting inspectors Van In and Versavel are back. A radical Catholic movement has attacked several key locations to restore traditional Christian values. When Berthe Courriere, a beautiful Parisienne, is found naked in the Pastoor Vanhaecke Plantsoen park in Bruges, it seems an odd but innocent enough event – until things take a turn for the worst. No one is safe, not even Versavel. Het oor van Machus is a no-brain page-turner with a striking link to current affairs. ★★☆☆
Zelfs de vogels vallen (Even the Birds Fall)
Frederik Willem Daem • De Bezige Bij
Frederik Willem Daem meant to be a filmmaker, but, with a head full of stories and characters, he created his first work of fiction instead. All the stories in the collection Zelfs de vogels vallen have one thing in common: failure. Whether it’s an American preacher telling us to accept uncertainty, a couple who move to Paris to save their relationship or an astronaut from Luxembourg who is irritated by his companion, every story is a daring and experimental tale. ★★★☆
