A translator goes to The Hague to work at the International Court. She has a boyfriend and feels that this relationship could lead somewhere. Having nowhere she can call home, this place seems to be a good candidate. Then several events occur. Her boyfriend, still married, leaves for Spain to clarify things with his wife and is away for weeks without giving any news. In her work, she has to translate for a former president accused of war crimes and she gets caught in his deviousness where words and meanings can be shifted. She feels challenged, overwhelmed, lost. A difficult book to summarise correctly because there is no real plot and most of it is inner talks, but beautiful talks and profound questions. A very soft and magical feeling. I loved this book.
“One day you are living an ordinary life with its ordinary ups and downs, and then that life is ripped apart and you can never feel entirely secure again. You spend your days looking over your shoulder, your understanding of the world is changed, you see it as a brittle place, full of hostility.”