'A novel of restrained tenderness and laconic humour.'

J.M. Coetzee

'Bakker is a kind of Dutch Cormac McCarthy, if you replace the American West with the Dutch countryside. It's an elegant, spare and psychologically astute evocation of rural life, its desolation balanced by quiet humour.'

Cameron Woodhead (Age)

'The great power of this novel, right to the very end, lies in what remains unspoken.'

Kerryn Goldsworthy (Sydney Morning Herald)

'Stealthy, seductive story-telling that draws you into a world of silent rage and quite unexpected relationships. Compelling and convincing from beginning to end.'

Tim Parks

'The Twin is a moving mediation on life and the ties that bind us to each other and to what we perceive as our duty.'

Cheryl Jorgensen (Courier Mail)

'This is a novel of great brilliance and subtlety. It contains scenes of enveloping psychological force but is open-ended, its extraordinary last section suggesting that fulfilment of long-standing aspirations can arrive, unanticipated, in late middle-age. Human dramas are offset by landscape and animals feelingly delineated, and David Colmer's translation is distinguished by an exceptional (and crucial) ear for dialogue.'

Paul Binding (The Independent)

'Loneliness, combined with the beauty of the landscape, creates an atmosphere of inchoate yearning.'

(The Guardian)

'This is a beautifully written book - its lustre lies in the clear simplicity of language as well as the authenticity of Helmer’s internal dialogue.'

Ruth Wildgust (The Sunday Business Post)

'Bakker captures the feel of life in the Dutch countryside in a style which is both dazzling and subdued. He has produced a poignant story, recounted in a tone at once spare and loving.'

(De Volkskrant)

'The Twin is a slow burner but also a beautiful example of understatement. It could so easily be a bleak tale of regret but Bakker's spartan prose eloquently conveys the humour of Helmer's awakening.'

Melissa McClements (The Financial Times )

'After finishing Boven is het stil (The Twin) all the reader can say is: here is a true writer. We look forward to his next book.'

(Het Parool)

'Bakker is above all a gifted stylist. His dialogue is exemplary, and the descriptions of nature have a natural charm worthy of Nescio. It is a long time since we’ve taken such pleasure in a genuinely Dutch novel.'

(Trouw)

'A deeply introspective novel that speaks to one's innermost voice.'

(Readings Monthly)

'This is quite a tribute to Gerbrand Bakker's beautifully managed narrative techniques and his insight into what might seen a very ordinary life.'

Veronica Sen (The Canberra Times)