Zeeland, or Elective Concurrences [Hardcover]

Some 150 years ago, Dickens taught us the fictional possibilities of coincidence; here, Koning gives us a potent refresher. This is the dual story of World War II soldier Michael Beauchamp, an American serving the British, and his grandfather, Michel Beauchamp, a publisher of Communard tracts in the 1870s. Synchronicity is everywhere, with Michael's imprisonment, escape from a Nazi camp, edgy, furtive treks across Europe, and attempts to find and refind the love of his life neatly paralleling Michel's flight from Paris, edgy, furtive treks across Europe, imprisonment, escape from the Foreign Legion, and efforts to find his lost wife. At one point, the elder Beauchamp saves the life of the younger. Sometimes harrowing, sometimes sweet (the ending is a coup of coincidence, but the reader doesn't know whether to expect it or not), this is both an elegantly written experiment and a page-turner from a noted journalist and author of such books as America Made Me. Highly recommended for literary collections and larger libraries. Robert E. Brown, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"...the reader's adrenaline pumps nonstop ... a recommendation for what should turn out to be a distinguished writer's breakout book." -- Publisher's Weekly

"Koning's novel moves quickly and is thick with intrigue; it also has a generous measure of emotional complexity. . . deft, thoughtful." -- The New York Times Book Review, March 3, 2002

Michael Beauchamp, an American soldier caught in German-occupied France, flees across Southern Europe towards Gibraltar. He unknowingly follows his grandfather Michel Beauchamp's footsteps, tracing his journey as the two men, separated by seventy years, elude armed pursuers across the wasteland of a continent ravaged by war.

A seasoned novelist, Hans Koning has written a masterful new novel which captivates the reader and examines the culmination of fate and history, beauty and tragedy. In this work, the author investigates the human condition in the context of war, death, love, and loss.

Zeeland tracks grandfather and grandson Michel and Michael Beauchamp as they embark on parallel journeys through wartime Europe. Separated by 70 years, Michael, an American soldier, and Michel, a French printer, flee German-occupied France towards Gibraltar. As Michael travels, he continues to stumble onto traces of his grandfather's earlier journey, discovering patterns which connect the two men across the expanse of time. In spare and elegant prose, Koning has constructed a novel which delicately explores the nature of coincidence, the logic of history, and the emergence of order from chaos.

Hans Koning has served as a reporter for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and other periodicals. He has, in addition, published 12 novels, 10 works of non-fiction, three plays, two translations, and a children's book. NewSouth will launch a reprint series to bring back into print over the next several years all of Koning's works of fiction.