 | The Scarlet City by Hella S. Haasse
Buy used from: £11.99 Greatest living female writer in the Dutch language: one of her few novels translated into English. Meet Michelangelo in 16th century Rome.
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 | A Heart of Stone by Renate Dorrestein
Buy used from: £0.01 Greatest living female writer after Haasse. Rather than writing historical novels, she writes poignantly about family-life in the present. Awarded the Vondel prize for best translation from the Dutch.
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 | The Twins by Tessa de Loo
Buy used from: £0.01 Third female writer: award-winning novel about German-born twins that are seperated before WWII with one experiencing the war in Germany, the other literaly on the other side: in the Netherlands.
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 | The Virtuoso by Margriet de Moor
Buy used from: £1.25 A novella about music and love: A Dutch 'An Equal Music' set in Baroque Naples; fantastic writing, the writer herself a musician.
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 | The Lily Theatre by Lulu Wang
Buy used from: £0.01 A Chinese writer that wrote her first novel in Dutch: very refreshing language infused with Chinese poetry. A harrowing story. Won the Nonnino-prize.
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 | Rituals: A Novel by Cees Nooteboom
Buy used from: £1.94 After the females, the male writers: this is a great book from a great writer. Check out his travel writing too.
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 | Roads to Santiago: Detours and Riddles in the Land and History of Spain by Cees Nooteboom
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £0.90 There: a piece of his travel-writing
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 | The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch
Buy new: £9.09 / Used from: £1.41 The Magnum Opus of one of the giants of Dutch Literature. A book about about everything. Has also been made into a film by Jeroen Krabbé with Stephen Fry.
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 | The Procedure by Harry Mulisch
Buy used from: £0.01 More by Mulisch: his take on creating life. If this doesn't interest you, still buy this for its hilarious first chapter in which the author tries to get rid of 'unclean' readers.
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 | The Garden Where the Brass Band Played by Simon Vestdijk
Buy used from: £1.52 Writer from the not-so distant past: a bildungsroman with the most interesting use of a rather unusual leitmotiv
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 | Marcel by Erwin Mortier
Buy used from: £0.01 Great first novel from a contemporary Flemish writer. Reminded me of Schlink's 'The Reader' in the way it speaks of the past influencing the present.
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 | Villa Des Roses by Willem Elsschot
Buy new: £7.99 / Used from: £0.01 Great first novel from a (by now) iconic Flemish writer... recently made into a lovely (English) film
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 | The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi by Arthur Japin
Buy used from: £0.01 First novel of a Dutch writer: only his first, but can rival Haasse for historical fiction.
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 | Wedding By The Sea by Abdelkader Benali
Buy used from: £0.01 First novel (lots of them, er?) of a Dutch-Maroccan writer. Writes very long sentences but short novels. Great stuff if you can keep your mind on it.
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 | The Sorrow of Belgium (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) by Hugo Claus
Buy used from: £34.99 One of the most prolific Flemish writers: his masterpiece on growing up in Flanders in the first half of the 20th century. Won the Nonnino-prize.
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 | Silent Extras by Arnon Grunberg
Buy new: £7.19 / Used from: £0.01 There aren't many comic writers in Dutch: this is a nice exception: if you ever want to read something truly weird and fun, this is your pick.
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 | Brothers. Life, death, truth (Collins Flamingo) by Ted Van Lieshout
Buy new: £4.49 / Used from: £0.01 A book written for children, but also great for Peter Pan-like adults such as myself! Dealing with topics ranging from loss, grief, family-bonds and homosexuality, this book is a compelling read!
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 | It's Love We Dont Understand by Bart Moeyaert
Buy new: £9.72 / Used from: £4.24 Another book theoretically for children, by a great Flemish author: three seemingly unconnected short stories... until you discover the ties!
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 | Crusade in Jeans by Thea Beckman
Buy new: £6.60 / Used from: £1.64 A last children's book that I really enjoyed too. A 20th century kid is catapulted back in time to witness the crusades 'in jeans'. Apparently planning to be filmed.
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 | Max Havelaar: Or the Coffee Auctions of a Dutch Trading Company (Classics) by Multatuli
Buy new: £7.73 / Used from: £2.93 Last but not least at all: the most important Ducth novel of all time (written in the 19th century), Multatuli is the Dutch Dickens or Dostoyevsky (as you prefer!).
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