Monika van Paemel

Monika van Paemel (b. 1945) took to her writer’s desk after years of illness. Her first, immediately recognisable books turned out to be preparatory sketches for her hefty, breakthrough novel with feminist overtones The Accursed Fathers. In 2004 she published the counterpart to her chef d’oeuvre, ‘Celestine or The Heavenly Mothers’ (Celestien. De gebenedijde moeders). Van Paemel now has a dozen epic novels to her name.

Photo © Chris van Houts