Which 'Engel' was the first to arrive?

19 December 2009
People frequently question me about the title of my latest novel. Was I aware that a novel by Wanda Bommer had the same title Engel and was recently published by Nijgh & Van Ditmar? No, this was new to me. Engel (Angel) is of course a much used word and common words tend to pop up in many places. Take for example Woede (Fury) by Salman Rushdie, which was the book given away during one of the Dutch National Book Weeks and a few years after this event Woede by Ingrid Hoogervorst was published. Actually, quite a few books share the title Woede. However Wanda Bommer's publisher Vic van de Reijt has known about the fact that I have written a novel called Engel for the past two years. It could just be a coincidence.