The Authortrek View: This is a fantastic
wartime thriller. Henri Osewoudt
hasn’t had the best start in life, particularly when, at the age of 12, his
insane mother murders his father.
Osewoudt takes temporary refuge with his aunt and uncle, and their nineteen-year-old
daughter Ria, who wastes no time in getting him into bed under the pretence of
comforting him. As the years past,
Osewoudt does not mature like other boys, as he has a high-pitched voice and
never shaves. Which is all very
well for him later, when he has to dress as a woman in a bid to escape, but not
so good when he is competing with his peers at school. Osewouldt becomes an expert in judo in
order to defend himself. It’s not
long before Osewoudt marries Ria, and starts to run his parents’ tobacconists,
while caring for his mother who has now been released by the asylum. The Nazis attack the Netherlands, and
just as the government capitulates, a Dutch officer called Dorbeck comes into
the shop, asking Osewoudt to develop some photos. However, Dorbeck appears to be a strange negative image of
Osewoudt: the same height and build, but with dark hair, a deep voice and
stubble… It’s not long before Dorbeck, whom Osewoudt believes to be working in
the resistance, asks him to come along on a mission to kill a couple of
traitors. Osewoudt adapts to his
new life with chilling ease, and it’s not long before Dorbeck has involved him
in several other killings, and into the murky world of wartime espionage, in
which nobody is whom they appear to be…
The title of the novel comes from the parable of Damocles’ Sword, and
like the fawning courtier, Osewoudt discovers that it’s not so great to be king
for a day, and that the means by which he has become so notorious may well
plant the seeds for his downfall. The Darkroom of Damocles reminds me
strongly of James Hogg’s The
Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, which also
featured a mysterious doppelganger that leads the protagonist to murder, and
Herman’s novel is no less surreal and gothic by being set in the Second World
War, while his prose is certainly more accessible and modern than Hogg’s. Osewoudt himself is a classic
character, as vital and engaging as Yossarian in Catch-22 as he stumbles
around the baffling landscape of war. Although the novel is approaching its fiftieth anniversary,
the prose itself feels timeless, which can’t all be down to Ina Rilke’s skilful
translation. The Darkroom of Damocles is a brilliant read, full of
fantastic characters and intriguing twists that will keep you entranced for
hours.
Praise
for The Darkroom of Damocles:
‘I
plunged into this novel intimidated at first by its length, then astonished to find
myself unable to put it down. For this is a thriller … exact and dry, rich in
detail but fast-moving, frighteningly real yet verging on the incredible’ -
Milan Kundera
‘I admired that book tremendously. It's one of the best novels about the Second World War’ - Angus Wilson
You can read a resume of the book on our Amazon store below. To find out more about the author, please visit our W. F. Hermans page.
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