An Island in Time

Eloquent * Guardian *Movingly relevant * Irish Times *Mak is good on the pulse of the village, its ebb and flow as people come and go, but running throughout the book is a genuine anger that this is a meritorious way of life we are too eager to dismiss – Lesley McDowell * Independent of Sunday *A big subject, neatly summarized, in which he also studies the changes in people’s values that take place when they move to big cities, and the role now played by incomers in village life – Alastair Mabbott * Herald *Nowhere has the silent rural revolution been described more beautifully and with mroe feeling * Volkskrant *This book is not just about Jorwerd, it is about all the villages in the world, the oldest community known to man, where all our ancestors, our collective memories, our highest values and most beautiful stories originate * NRC Handelsblad *

Geert Mak is a journalist and historian, and one of Holland’s bestselling writers; his prizewinning books include Amsterdam and In Europe. Translated by Ann Kelland.