I am just back from a gloriously sunny weekend in Amsterdam and the launch at the Boekhandel Van Rossum of Linen Press’s latest publication – Karen Kao’s The Dancing Girl and the Turtle.
It was the perfect venue for a launch, surrounded as we were by books, and the crowd, for there was a crowd, able to spill out into the leafy garden, glass of wine in one hand , book in the other.
Introduced by her editor and publisher Lynn Michell, Karen spoke about her inspiration for the novel and read from the prologue. The reading was beautifully understated and the prose pitch perfect. This promises to be a great novel of important themes, not least a woman’s ‘fight for independence against overwhelming odds.’
It was still warm and folk were still sitting out on the grass in Vondel Park when we left the launch and caught a tram back to Wolvenstraat. Back to the cobweb of canals to a young and vibrant part of the city with great cafes and restaurants, markets and exquisite flower shops, where we ate Yakatori and toasted, The Dancing Girl and the Turtle, with a final glass of wine…
