The Remembered Soldier

Synopsis

An extraordinary love story and a captivating novel about the power of memory and imagination.

Flanders, 1922. After serving in the Great War, Noon Merckem has lost his memory and now lives in a psychiatric asylum. Countless women respond to a newspaper advertisement in the hope of finding a husband who vanished during the war. One day, a woman named Julienne arrives and recognizes Noon as her husband, the photographer Amand Coppens. Against medical advice, she takes him home.

But their miraculous reunion is not the joyful homecoming Julienne wants others to believe. As the two slowly grow closer, Amand's identity is pieced together through Julienne's stories. Yet how can he know whether she is telling the truth? As doubt begins to creep in, both Amand and the reader are drawn into a gripping spiral of uncertainty.

Beautifully written and psychologically profound, The Remembered Soldier is a haunting exploration of memory, identity, love, and the lingering wounds of war.

About the Author

Anjet Daanje is a Dutch novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter whose work has earned some of the Netherlands' highest literary honours. Widely praised for her ambitious storytelling and psychological depth, she gained international recognition with The Song of Stork and Dromedary. The Remembered Soldier, translated from the Dutch by David McKay, was longlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize and was a finalist for the 2025 National Book Award for Translated Literature.

Publisher
Scribe UK

Publication Date
19 June 2025

Format
Paperback

Pages
576

Subjects
Literary Fiction · Fiction in Translation · Historical Fiction · World War I · Psychological Fiction · Dutch Literature · Romance

ISBN
9781917260022