ANNA ENQUIST is a musician, a psychoanalyst, a poet and a novelist. One of the best-loved writers of her native Holland,
she is also a best-selling author in Germany, Switzerland, France, Sweden and Austria. Her first collection of
poetry won the award for new Dutch poetry - the prestigious C. Buddingh'' prize - and has been followed by four more collections of poetry, all of which have gone back to press frequently. Her novels have achieved similar acclaim;
The Masterpiece,
The Secret and
Ice Carriers all proved to be runaway bestsellers, each with over 250,000 copies sold.
The Secret won the 1997 Dutch Readers'' Prize. All are available from The Toby Press.
About the book The Secret this is the story of Wanda Wierickhe, the story of her past and the story of Bouw, the man she left.
Concert pianist Wanda Wiericke sees music as a way of escaping reality. It is her answer to questions about her place in the world. When forced to choose, she leaves her husband for it. But when her mother literally spits up “the secret” on her deathbed, Wanda is no longer able to withdraw into her music. A rheumatic disorder prevents her from playing: she does not touch a piano again until she has come to terms with her past.
Enquist offers no easy solutions. The book’s climax does not come with the revelation of the secret, but in the process of coming to terms with it.