Fiction & Non-fiction for Adults

FRANKFURT 2023

Foreign rights catalogue Fiction & Non-fiction for Adults

Pelckmans publishers

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Pelckmans aims to inspire, inform and relax today’s readers.

In this catalogue we showcase our most international fiction and non-fiction titles for adults, ranging from graphic novels, scientific titles, lifestyle books, books about art, history, psychology and pedagogy, and professional publications. Please, note that our backlist is much more elaborate than this catalogue is able to convey. Should you be looking for a specific topic, title or type of publication: don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

www.pelckmansuitgevers.be/foreign-rights

RECENTLY TRANSLATED TITLES

p. 27 p. 29

Rights sold: Spanish, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Russian, English, Italian, German, Arabic, Complex Chinese (Taiwan), Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese Brazil, Slovenian and Swedish

Rights sold: Danish, German and English

Rights sold: French

Rights sold: Danish

FICTION TITLES & GRAPHIC NOVELS

DON’T WORRY ABOUT US

Koen Aelterman

Don’t worry about us is an adult graphic novel by Antwerp artist Koen Aelterman, on which he has been working for over 8 years.

ARAYA

Christina De Witte

After the death of her father, 20-year-old Araya sees no other option but to go live with her mother in Thailand. There’s only one catch: she has never been there before.

In Araya, the eponymous main character sets out to find out who she is in a country that is completely foreign to her, where she doesn’t speak the language and has no friends – until she meets Mariko, who drags her into the underground youth culture of bustling Bangkok. Their friendship soon becomes Araya’s whole world, until it suddenly falls apart.

Araya is a modern coming-of-age story about (self-) love in a world that is constantly changing, about true friendship, a complex maternal bond and fighting for what you believe in.

BE: €24,50

NOVEMBER 2023

PAPERBACK 150 X 220 MM

PAGE EXTENT: 240

The long-awaited graphic-novel debut

Christina ‘Chrostin’ De Witte is an illustrator, author and cartoonist. She has a weekly newspaper column and over 84k followers on Instagram. Her previous novel, Some girls don’t like pink, was translated into 7 languages. Apart from drawing she loves crafts, cooking and weightlifting. Her dream is to see her graphic novel made into a movie one day.

© Clara Benecia

of Christina De Witte.

HONEYEATER

Tülin Erkan

Every single day, Turkish-Belgian Sibel deliberately misses her flight home from Istanbul Airport. She does not feel truly at home in either country and wants above all to get to grips with the memories of her dead Turkish father and rediscover her language. She kills time by rigorously observing other passengers or caring for a stray sniffer dog. Sibel is under observation herself, too, by security man Ömer, who follows her on his screens. He decides to protect her, as a father might.

Then Sibel meets Wernicke, a pilot as displaced as she is, who loses his job, his language and his health. Sibel, Ömer and Wernicke all live illegally at the airport. They have their own baggage and seem incapable of real communication. A snowstorm extends their awkward interaction for a while, but ultimately their parting is inescapable.

Shortlist Boon Literatuurprijs 2023

Shortlist De Bronzen Uil 2022

Longlist Boekenbon Literatuurprijs 2022

“The atmosphere is vaguely reminiscent of Ben Lerner, Samuel Beckett and also the early Peter Handke.”

Tulin Erkan grew up in Ostend with a French-speaking mother and an English-speaking grandmother. She spent her summers with her father in Turkey. When people describe her as half, she feels mostly double. In her debut Honey-eater, she virtuosically strings together language and memory into a condensed whole.

SEEDS IN THE DARK

Ilona Lodewijckx

‘Later on these people will walk out the door with bits of me in them. They didn’t choose that, it happens automatically. My face will end up in a collection box of fragments of life that they keep somewhere deep inside. From then on they can dream of me without even knowing it.’

Connie Como likes the idea that her face is stored in the memory of everyone who has ever encountered her. She plays a part in a reproduction of Shakespeare and counts all the looks she gets while on stage. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant with her opponent Pandulf’s child, she knows what she has to do. What she does not know is that her decision is the start of a pilgrimage that will take her right across Europe, to the Ligurian orchard where she spent her childhood summers.

Somewhere along the way, Connie finds more than she ever thought she had lost.

Ilona Lodewijckx writes both for leisure and for work, including campaigns for brands such as Levi’s and Ace & Tate. In 2017 she founded the inclusive magazine Fille folle She lives in Brussels. Seeds in the dark is her debut.

A literary road trip through Europe with a nod to the work of writers such as Elif Batuman, Jeanette Winterson and Miranda July.

© Buro Bonito

PENINSULA

Lieven Stoefs

‘He brought his face close to hers, closed his eyes and immediately felt her lips pressing against his. An ancient song echoed through the streets. For a beat, electrons stopped whizzing, light forgot its startling speed. In a flash, a world can be destroyed. Perhaps the reverse is also true: a glance, a few words have the power to soothe years of waiting, an avalanche of sorrow.

With elegance and incisive language, Lieven Stoefs sketches a family portrait of four generations in Peninsula. From a trembling leg at a very first meeting on a motor coach, to a quest that slides past a Greek peninsula, soccer fields and factories half a century later. Using words as incantations, he creates a world where love and despair are inseparable.

“Overwhelmingly beautiful debut”

Nominated for De Bronzen Uil 2023

GOD ONLY KNOWS

Louis van Dievel

When his elderly father dies, Jean-Pierre Roos makes a curious discovery in the attic of his parents’ house: a chest with priest’s clothes. The discovery sheds a whole new light on the life of the respectable former bank manager of Sint-Martens-Latem. Jean-Pierre Roos himself does not emerge unscathed from his search for his father’s true story, a quest in which his sister Ginette only reluctantly participates. And what role do Patsy, Sister Ursula and the abbess of the Poor Clares of Ghent play? God only knows.

Louis van Dievel is a journalist and the author of numerous award-winning novels. De Pruimelaarstraat was shortlisted for the Libris Literature Prize and Hof van assisen was awarded the 2012 Hercule Poirot Prize. In 2022, he invented a new genre with De koers : the cycling thriller.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE

Stijn Vranken

A cabinet worker, worker, singer, real estate tycoon, daughter-in-law, security guard, polar explorer and visionary each have their own Valentine’s Day. One nervously prepares a press conference, another struggles with her renowned in-laws, someone just crossed the South Pole on foot. Eight lives that take place separately from each other, but then again not. Propelled by a shared primal desire (let’s call it love - after all, that’s what February 14th is all about) they cause waves and ripples that roll all over the world and also reach Stijn, a boy fascinated by the golden record aboard the Voyager space probe and head over heels in love with the most beautiful girl in the world

SEARCHING FOR IDA

Nathalie Le Blanc

‘This is Ida. If you recognize the woman in this painting, we would like to hear from you.’ The son of worldrenowned painter Alexander Halow is sitting in on a talk show, explaining that he is looking for the model his father painted decades ago. And yes, Cato and her family know that image, because they have a photo of their grandma Ida that looks exactly like this painting. The search for Ida turns Cato’s life upside down, and not just because her family may get their hands on a masterpiece.

A tango of fact and fiction, in a fascinating and humorously written debut novel about every human being who has ever existed.

Two generations, one irresistible lovestory.

NOTHING WRONG WITH SUZANNE

Sofie Leyts

Suzanne is a retired bookseller and lives in a residence for pensioners. Every day she sits at the dining table with Mia, Rudy, Lizzy and Henri. Although their collective age adds up to four hundred and thirty-four years of life experience, animator Kevin considers it his duty to pamper them as toddlers. When frustrations surrounding bingo nights and potholder knitting reach their peak, they agree to prank him. Unfortunately, nothing goes as planned and nobody does as they were asked. On the upside, Suzanne suddenly finds herself face to face with someone who brings her past very close indeed.

A SECOND CHANCE FOR CHRISTMAS

Robin Hart

Rosalie runs her own lingerie shop and is Chair of the middle class council in East Hazelwood. She has her affairs more or less in order, until a sudden merger with neighbouring borough Oxbury is on the table. Rosalie has her reasons for doing everything she can to avoid it, even if ‘everything’ means entering into a fake relationship with the man she can’t stand.

Victor is a best-selling author and owner of Plantastic. As chairman of West Hazelwood’s middle class council, he and Rosalie must put together an unforgettable winter village in five months if he is to avoid a merger with Loxington.

As the months progress and the Christmas spirit swells, tensions between Rosalie and Victor also rise. And they seem to mind less and less...

‘A funny novel about vengeful oldies, with a touching undertone about two sisters who have grown apart.’

– thisishowweread.be

THE BLOOD OF THE SWAN

Hugo Luijten

February 1929. Düsseldorf is shaken by a series of murders, and the victims are men, women and children alike. The massacres are as hideous as they are puzzling, for where is the blood of the victims? Detectives Richard Meisters and Kaspar ‘Piszko’ Piaszkowski are given the case to track down the killer. Suspects and witnesses come and go, but the sadistic executioner does not stop. Meanwhile, the now hysterical press whips up the public as well as the authorities, only making it harder to catch the culprit.

Blood of the Swan is based on true events in Düsseldorf in 1929, against the backdrop of economic crises and the rise of the Nazis. This is the first part in a thriller series focusing on notorious serial killers throughout history.

In the same series

RED AS SNOW

Dirk Debeys

Belgian businessman René Dumont is found dead in Switzerland, at the bottom of a mountain ridge. Footsteps in the snow betray that he was not alone, but no one saw anything. Not much later, in the same village, Karel Essink is shot while skiing.

Experienced Serge Ruffieux and young Tony Hänggi of the Swiss police are puzzled. Are the murders linked? Why are Karel’s colleagues behaving so suspiciously? And who is the mysterious young man who suddenly turns up in the Swiss mountains?

By the same author

PAUL VAN OSTAIJEN

Matthijs de Ridder

An impressive biographical source, a lucid cultural history and, above all, a tribute to the poet who wanted to change the world.

Paul van Ostaijen’s life was over in a flash. He was barely thirty-two when he died all alone in a small Walloon sanatorium in 1928. A century on, his oeuvre still captures people’s imagination. Paul van Ostaijen drove Dutch literature almost singlehandedly into the fast and extremely violent twentieth century. He tried to reinvent every genre he tackled. Every book he started had to be totally different from what already existed. This uncompromising attitude did not make his life easy, but it turned him into one of the most beloved poets of Dutch literature.

In this first full-fledged biography, Matthijs de Ridder brings ‘zot polleken’ to life. The poet once again walks the streets of Antwerp, wanders through the Berlin of the Expressionists and Dadaists, and roams Belgium in search of healthy air for his sick lungs. With great enthusiasm and an eye for historical detail, De Ridder tells the compelling story of a life that crossed a few pivotal moments in history. During his years of research, Matthijs de Ridder collected a lot of new material. He also found a youthful impetus for the novel Bob and the unknown grotesque ‘Ecce Europa’, which appears here for the first time.

Matthijs de Ridder (Antwerp) is a literary historian and writer. He edited works by Louis Paul Boon, Paul van Ostaijen and Gaston Burssens. He also wrote, among others, the award-winning Aan Borms (about Willem Elsschot, 2007), Rebelse ritmes (about jazz and literature, 2012) and Boem Paukeslag (about Paul van Ostaijen’s Bezette stad, 2021).

An impressive time document, a lucid cultural history and, above all, a tribute to the poet who wanted to change the world.

LIFESTYLE, CULINARY & HEALTH

PLANT-BASED COOKING

Annelies Van Mol

Plant-based cooking is child’s play. Yes, really. This book is yet again proof of that. Moreover, it is also good for your body and good for the planet. So what are you waiting for?

In this cooking bible, Annelies Van Mol collects 85 plant-based recipes, each of which is also gluten- and lactose-free. You will find recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks - and of course delicious desserts! From veggie meatballs in tomato sauce to vegetable mac & cheese, from gluten-free granola to lactose-free panna cotta. Annelies teaches you how to cleverly combine spices and flavourings so that every dish becomes a little pocket of flavour.

TABLE FOR ONE

Nathalie Le Blanc

What is the difference between cooking for two and cooking for one? That’s easy: motivation. The threshold to cooking for yourself is infinitely higher than to cooking for two, and so not cooking is more often the easier option. Until you get your hands on this book and discover, page after page, that cooking for one can also be a real treat. Because cooking just for yourself means doing it entirely your way. Want an innovative three-course meal or just endless toasts of filet americain with one of those shiny sweet and sour onions on top? It’s all possible.

In this book, Nathalie Le Blanc, experienced singlecooker, compiles her best recipes for one. With these recipes, you no longer have to eat the same thing four days in a row and surpluses are no longer surpluses, but just the start of another delicious dish. Handy, especially for those ingredients you always have too much of (yes, cauliflower, we’re talking about you).

OVEN DISHES

Wim

Ballieu

Oven dishes are the gods of comfort food. They are a nostalgic feast for your taste buds and food for the soul. For granny’s cuisine survives all culinary hypes and is invincible in its simplicity. (And in its bechamel sauce.)

In this book, Wim Ballieu collects 60 favourite oven dishes. Vegetarian, or with meat or fish, but above all: packed with vegetables. Using local ingredients, he creates recipes for every season. Because anyone who thinks you can only eat casseroles in winter is sorely mistaken (and is missing a lot in life).

Wim Ballieu is a chef, entrepreneur and TV maker. He grew up in his parents’ butcher’s shop, but the butcher’s son wanted to become a chef and an entrepreneur. Today, he runs the successful Balls & Glory chain, presents Bal National on Belgian njam! TV channel and has just launched his latest concept Wim’s Deli, which focuses on the classic casserole.

MENOPAUZEPOUNDS

Leen Steyaert

Many menopausal women struggle with their weight. In her new book, Leen Steyaert invites them to treat themselves lovingly, to not pursue perfection so much, and take time out to focus on their health. Because working on your weight without good basic health is not possible. Leen shows that with a healthy lifestyle, you can improve aches and even make them disappear. It is important not to lose yourself in a battle against the number of kilograms, but to choose an acceptable weight for yourself in which fat, love handles and a protruding belly are allowed to exist.

Leen Steyaert is a specialist nursing orthomolecular therapist. She is the first Flemish menopause consultant and breast tissue therapist. She is the author of several health books, which have already inspired thousands of women in Belgium and the Netherlands to take control of their own health.

BE: €27

DECEMBER 2021

HARDCOVER 200 X 250 MM

PAGE EXTENT: 160

BE: €24,50

MARCH 2023

PAPERBACK 150 X 230 MM

PAGE EXTENT: 256

ALL THE HAPPINESS IN THE WORLD

Liesbeth Talboom & Liesbeth Haesevoets

There are so many moments when you want to wish lovely people ‘all the luck in the world’. At a retirement, a wedding, a birth, a special birthday, a new house, ... But even when bad news comes, such as a tough health diagnosis, it can be a very comforting gesture to wish someone a hearty helping of happiness.

This gift book collects 50 surprising good luck charms and rituals from all over the world. You finally know why you should try to blow out all those candles on your birthday cake in one go. You discover why you get to make a wish every time you blow an eyelash away. And you no longer look surprised when you see someone taking a stroll with an empty suitcase on New Year’s Eve. This little book does not guarantee happiness. But it is a great gift for anyone who deserves a little extra happiness. That’s a nice start, right?

#LITTLEBITSOFBLISS

Lynn Van Royen

We are all looking for the great Happiness, but as a result we too often miss those little moments of euphoria: looking at the alarm clock just when it’s 22:22, tucking the duvet into the cover correctly on the first try, dropping your iPhone and seeing that the screen is NOT CRACKED!

In #littlebitsofbliss, Lynn Van Royen opens your eyes to these little moments of pure happiness. No, this book won’t help you on your way to your dream job or that world tour of Asia, but want to bet that it will make your life ten per cent better anyway?

Lynn Van Royen is an actress and launched the hashtag movement #klittlebitsofbliss against negativity and whining.

A HANDFUL OF …

Liz is More

Liz is More writes lyrics and poems from the heart. She not only shares these daily with her more than 45,000 followers on social media, but also in book form and greeting cards. Her warm words create recognition and invariably stick. The series – tackling themes such as self-confidence, love, sadness, friendship – makes for the perfect book gift to share with your loved ones or yourself.

In this series: A handful of friendship, A handful of being yourself, A handful of calmness, A handful of confidence, A handful of resilience, A handful of love, A handful of comfort

To share. To keep. To cherish.

MIGRAINE

Adinda De Pauw, Anneke Govaerts, Annick Verstappen

Do you often have to pass up a party at the last minute because you have a headache? Are there days when the pain is so severe that you can only tolerate a dark room? Or are you sometimes hypersensitive to sound, light, smells or even tastes? Then chances are you suffer from migraine.

But what ís migraine exactly? In any case, it is a disease about which there are many misunderstandings. Every day in their practice, neurologists Adinda De Pauw, Anneke Govaerts and Annick Verstappen see patients with headache complaints who actually have migraine. Time to dispel the many myths and clichés about this neurological disease - because migraine is more than just a headache.

This book compiles everything you need to know about migraine. What is the mechanism of migraine? What are the symptoms and what triggers a fit? What is the best thing to do during a fit? And how can you prevent migraine, with or without medication?

Adinda, Anneke and Annick are neurologists with a love for the human brain and especially the patient behind it. They practise ‘general neurology’, ranging from stroke care, dementia, movement disorders, epilepsy, MS, sleep disorders to headaches.

SOCIETY, ART & HISTORY

YES!

Alexander De Croo

A pandemic, a war in Europe (for the first time in 75 years), an ever-warming climate. Alexander De Croo has by necessity been a crisis prime minister in recent years. Yet, as an incorrigible progress thinker, he is more convinced than ever that tomorrow will be better than today.

Yes! radically opposes doom and gloom, nationalism and politics of demolition. Our country is bursting with talent. Give people freedom and trust, join forces and we can punch above our weight.

Alexander De Croo tells where his indestructible faith in progress comes from and how it has only grown stronger at his cabinet in 16 Wetstraat. But he also looks ahead to the future. How do we guard our freedom and strengthen our democracy? How do we restore the social lift for generations to come? How do we transcend polarisation and make cooperation sexy again?

Alexander De Croo has been prime minister of Belgium since 2020. Previously, he was deputy prime minister and minister of Development Cooperation, Digital Agenda, Telecom and Post in the federal government. Before that, he was chairman of Open VLD political party, senator and minister of Pensions. He studied at the Solvay Business School in Brussels and the Kellog School of Management in Chicago.

Yes! is a plea not to compromise so much as millimetre on our values; not to draw back into ourselves, but to rely more than ever on our own strengths.

OPERATION CHURCH

Walter Van Steenbrugge

In his prolific career as a criminal lawyer, two cases have left a great impression on Walter Van Steenbrugge: Operation Church and the Euthanasia trial. Both in his fight for the victims of sexual abuse in the Church and in his fight for the doctors who granted euthanasia to Tine Nys, Van Steenbrugge came up against hidden machinations that influenced the course of the trials. In this, he clearly sees the hand of the Church and the Vatican.

BE: €24,50

SEPTEMBER 2023

PAPERBACK 140 X 215 MM

Walter Van Steenbrugge is a national and international criminal lawyer who has asserted himself as an advocate for fundamental human rights for several decades, both for victims and perpetrators of crimes. He goes to extremes in every case. His credo is to treat every case as if it were about himself or someone in his close circle.

BEFORE I FORGET

Bart De Strooper

We all face Alzheimers or dementia at some point. But why have we resigned ourselves to the fact that Alzheimer’s is part of getting older? Where and when have we forgotten that it is a disease? And that diseases should be cured?

Molecular biologist Bart De Strooper has been researching medication for Alzheimer’s throughout his career. De Strooper ran an impressive course, but he still has one step left: finding the ultimate cure. We are on the brink of a breakthrough, but the work is progressing slowly. De Strooper explains in great detail why that is. Before I forget is the latest sprint of an internationally renowned top researcher. A will, j’accuse and call-to-action in one. The reference book of a disease, but also of an exceptional scientist, who jumps the stage one last time.

PAGE EXTENT: 280

BE: €24,50

FEBRUARY 2022

PAPERBACK 140 X 215 MM

PAGE EXTENT: 288

THE FUTURE IS BACK

Fons Van Dyck

In The Future is Back, Fons Van Dyck gives us his take on the world today and what tomorrow’s world holds. In that world, crises seem increasingly interconnected and sequential. Everything that was once certain now seems very unpredictable. Will tomorrow be any better? According to Fons Van Dyck, we are at a crossroads. Summer is behind us, autumn is coming, and we are heading for a winter, mentally speaking. What that winter will look like is up to us. Several futures are possible.

In his book, Fons Van Dyck explains how we are sliding into a new era that simultaneously evokes memories of the 1920s and 1970s. He describes the four forces that determined the future even then and continue to do so today: explore, connect, acquire and defend. It is his conviction that these four forces will clash increasingly in the years to come, in a struggle for personal and social dominance.

This book contains hopeful answers for those who want to get a grip on their own future. Fons Van Dyck invites his readers to take an active role and help build that desired future.

Fons Van Dyck holds a doctorate in media and communication studies. He lectures on strategies for brands at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Solvay Business School and heads

Think BBDO, part of the global communications group BBDO. His previous work includes The brand man: consumers seize power (2008), The power of white (2009), Advertising: dead or alive (2013) and The immortal enterprise (2019).

© Evert Thiry

What world there will be in the future is decided by us now.

A LITTLE PHILOSOPHY OF STRONG EMOTIONS

Ignaas Devisch, Saskia De Coster & Erwin Mortier

We live in highly strung with emotion. Emotions influence our daily lives, but also our political system. Some emotions are seen as ‘good’ and ‘desirable’, others we put away as ‘reprehensible’ and ‘weak’. But is that so? Isn’t a little jealousy just about healthy? And is fear sometimes a shield against more evil?

Authors Saskia De Coster and Erwin Mortier dive into a specific emotion to fully experience and explore it. Philosopher Ignaas Devisch then pauses to consider the power of tacit emotion. Does every emotion have to be shared? ‘Making emotions a topic of conversation has been good progress. But if speaking out starts to feel mandatory as a result of that ‘liberation’, then we have traded one obligation for another. And as such we will continue to struggle with the place of emotions in our lives.’

Together with Erwin Mortier, Saskia De Coster is one of Flanders’ leading pens, nominated for the most important literary prizes of the Belgium and The Netherlands.

Small books full of great thoughts, perfect for giving yourself and others food for thought.

As a professor of philosophy and ethics, Ignaas Devisch knows how to bring nuance to the social debate on sensitive issues. Besides teaching at UGent, he is also head of the think tank Itinera and a widely read author.

ČIURLIONIS

Kurt Van Eeghem

We know Van Gogh and Munck, Stravinsky and Skrjabin, but what do we know about Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis?

Author Kurt Van Eeghem saw his paintings, listened to his compositions and answers that question. In Čiurlionis, he describes the fascinating life of a great artist. Even though Čiurlionis lived to be only 35, his life was a rollercoaster. It began in 1875 in the primeval forests of southern Lithuania. Later Čiurlionis blossomed at Prince Oginski’s court and at the Warsaw Conservatory. In Leipzig, he became an artist but doubted his ability. Only back in Warsaw did we see the birth of the painter, and in St Petersburg, the synesthete surprised the Russian avant-garde with his unique oeuvre. His star was rising, but his brain gave out. Čiurlionis died in a small hospital for the mentally ill, just outside Warsaw.

THE LAST QUEEN

Jo De Poorter

On February 6, 2022, Elizabeth II sat on the British throne for 70 years. She died on September 8, 2022. The Last Queen answers the key questions surrounding her record-breaking kingship. It also brings clarity to the countless unanswered questions about the longestraining queen of all time and those who surround her.

This book draws on 30 years of reporting experience from royals expert Jo De Poorter, who has been front row at many major milestones of the British royal family.

This book tells the dazzling story of the most famous royal house in the world, with many unknown personal details and new, illuminating historical insights. It also provides clarity in the misunderstandings and commotion surrounding the Netflix series The Crown. What is true and what is not and how does it reawaken the old ghosts at Buckingham Palace?

Herman Van Goethem

1942 is a turning point in World War II. From November the Nazis are suffering heavy losses. All over the West, from London to Washington, governments and their civil servants are shifting policies. Herman Van Goethem has brought this crucial year back to life. He has written a compelling chronicle of everyday life in Antwerp, Belgium. The Jews suffer abject poverty and bide their time. The city council ardently col- laborates with the occupying forces. The police inclines to the harsh New Order, and from August large numbers of Jews are being deported. The deafening silence and agonizing suspense on international level are crucial at this point.

This book is more than a reconstruction of a forgotten war year. It offers a new way to elucidate World War II, which reaches far beyond the pitch-black year of 1942. Set against this startling background, the author recounts his search for the past, and for the acceptance and denial of what came to pass.

(‘1942. A Black Year of Silence’)

Herman Van Goethem (1958) is a historian and lawyer, and vice-chancellor of the University of Antwerp. He was curator and co-initiator of Kazerne Dossin, Museum and Documentation Centre on the Holocaust and Human Rights. Van Goethem is also the author of several high-profile books, including Leopold III. De Koning, het Land, de Oorlog (The King, the Country, the War), which he wrote with Jan Velaers.

PSYCHOLOGY, PEDAGOGY & MANAGEMENT

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TOTALITARIANISM

Mattias Desmet

In The Psychology of Totalitarianism, world-renowned Professor of Clinical Psychology Mattias Desmet deconstructs the societal conditions that allow this collective psychosis to take hold. By looking at our current situation and identifying the phenomenon of “mass formation”―a type of collective hypnosis―he clearly illustrates how close we are to surrendering to totalitarian regimes.

With detailed analyses, examples, and results from years of research, Desmet lays out the steps that lead toward mass formation.

In addition to clear psychological analysis―and building on Hannah Arendt’s essential work on totalitarianism, The Origins of Totalitarianism―Desmet offers a sharp critique of the cultural “groupthink” that existed prior to the pandemic and advanced during the COVID crisis. He cautions against the dangers of our current societal landscape, media consumption, and reliance on manipulative technologies and then offers simple solutions―both individual and collective―to prevent the willing sacrifice of our freedoms.

“Mattias Desmet’s theory of mass formation is the most important lens through which we can understand the COVID-19 pandemic and the social aberrations that accompanied it. In The Psychology of Totalitarianism, Desmet explains how and why people will willingly give up their freedom, how the masses can give rise to a totalitarian leader, and – most importantly – how we can resist these phenomena and maintain our common humanity. This is the most important book of 2022.”

Rights sold: spanish, Bulgarian, hungarian, Russian, english, italian, german, Arabic, complex chinese (Taiwan), Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese Brazil, slovenian and swedish

– Dr. Robert Malone, author of Lies My Gov’t Told Me

“Mattias Desmet’s [theory of mass formation hypnosis] is great…

Once I kind of started to look for it, I saw it everywhere.” – Eric Clapton

BE: €29,50 APRIL 2023

PAPERBACK

AT THE BOTTOM

Siebrecht Vanhooren

At the bottom of our humanity lie our essential questions of life. No matter how different we are, sooner or later we are challenged to consider who we are, what the meaning of our existence is, how we deal with our loneliness and our need for connection, with our end and with the choices and possibilities that lie ahead. When we get stuck as human beings, these ultimate themes play a special role. But even at the high points of our lives, we are often touched by this existential layer.

In this book, we explore how to help lost and suffering people reflect on these themes to live their lives more consciously and differently. Existential therapy provides a framework for exploring the grounding of who we are. Experiencing deeply what matters most will make space for growth and new paths.

THE HIJACKED BRAIN

Paul Van Deun

People with alcohol or other drug problems feel unfree and powerless. They find it difficult to resist the intake urge and keep going despite the negative consequences. Many views on addiction are often fatalistic or moralising and offer little perspective.

In recent years, neuroscience has described several mechanisms in which brain functions are disrupted by gambling, gaming, or frequent use of intoxicants. In The hijacked brain, Paul Van Deun translates those research findings into the practice of talk therapy.

BE: €32

SEPTEMBER 2018

PAPERBACK 150 X 230 MM

PAGE EXTENT: 200

Paul Van Deun is a clinical psychologist and was director of De Spiegel, centre for drug addicts in Kessel-Lo and Asse, for 33 years. As an outpatient therapist, he now closely follows neurobiological developments and offers recovery-oriented advice to his patients from there.

AUTISM AND THE PREDICTIVE BRAIN

Peter Vermeulen

You often hear of impaired stimulus processing in autism, but what if it turned out that the brain does not process stimuli at all? We teach children with autism to link emotions to facial expressions, but what if we don’t actually read emotions from the human face? What if understanding human behaviour is mainly a matter of unconsciously predicting what people are going to do?

Recent research shows that the classic picture of how the brain works, is not really accurate. A brain that puzzles together information about the world to then react, has no chance of survival in a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. The human brain predicts the world quickly and unconsciously, taking context into account.

In his book, Peter Vermeulen explores what this new insight means for autism. The discovery of the predictive brain not only sheds new light on autism, it also leads to the conclusion that some of the common interventions in autism urgently need to be revised.

Rights sold: danish, german and english

Peter Vermeulen is a clinical educator and an international authority on autism. He lectures and trains worldwide. He is the author of more than 15 books on autism, translated into several languages.

Full English translation available. This book makes us reflect on our image of autism and autistic people.

FROM HEART TO HEART

Binu Singh

In this book, Binu Singh aims to give a voice to children up to 6 years old and invites you to look at your own life and society from their perspective. She makes a heartfelt call for more focus on our early childhood. She does this through inspiring quotes and short texts on topics such as the inner child, secure attachment, toxic stress, healing through connection, a mother’s power, a father’s power, selfcare and social support.

Binu Singh is a child psychiatrist, psychotherapist and educator with a passion for young children and their well-being. Her area of expertise is everything related to early childhood.

BEING A FAMILY THERAPIST

Peter Rober

Being a family therapist is sometimes difficult. You are struck by the disappointment in the family, the sadness and pain. The love you would expect in the family is nowhere to be seen. But you keep believing in it, because without love there is no hope and family therapy is useless. You listen to the family members’ story of suffering and you see how they work to face their demons. And in doing so, they ask for your help. As a family therapist, what can you do to help them?

Peter Rober is a family therapist working in Context (UPC KU Leuven). He is a professor at the Institute of Family and Sexual Sciences at KU Leuven and author of several books, including Together in Family Therapy (Pelckmans, 2017).

Heart to Heart invites you to feel and reflect on how we can take better care of our children and ourselves. Because this is the key to a better world.

THE FUTURE FORMULA

Jo Caudron

The world is at a turning point. For the first time in our recent history, there is a prevailing feeling that people, society, and the economy must move forward in a different way. The old model, the old normal, seems to be quietly coming to an end.

Of course, we have long been familiar with major challenges such as climate change, digital transformation, and social evolutions in terms of living, working, mobility, healthcare, and migration. Recently, however, we have been facing an acceleration of these developments. Events such as the corona pandemic, climate disasters, geopolitical conflicts and other systemic shocks are forcing companies and organisations to learn to cope with unseen changes.

But how to proceed into the future when the old rules of the game of society and economy no longer apply?

In his book The Future Formula, Jo Caudron provides a method for mapping tomorrow’s most important disruptions. Starting from challenges and uncertainties, he then offers a model for finding solutions through sustainable innovation.

Jo Caudron has been an active digital entrepreneur and transformation strategist for many years. He has several books to his name, all of which are a source of inspiration for individuals, companies, and policymakers in these transformative times. He is also a sought-after speaker.