![Epochal emissary](https://cdn.magzter.com/1472106876/1651192816/articles/1Q5i9bynN1651735667094/Epochal-emissary.jpg)
Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer: playing games with structure and reader expectations.
GRAND HOTEL EUROPA, by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer (Fourth Estate, $35) [out May 4]
When Grand Hotel Europa was published in 2018 in the Netherlands, its depiction of life in a continent with its best behind it struck a chord with local readers.
“Europe is drowning in its history," author Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer warned. “There's so much past in Europe there's no space left for the future."
Four years on, it's an increasingly uncomfortable view. If Pfeijffer had chosen to update his bestseller for its English release, a global pandemic followed by the outbreak of war would make an unsurprising if depressing epilogue. It's lucky, then, that the novel, at 500-plus pages, is already full to the brim.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 7 - 13, 2022-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 7 - 13, 2022-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
![Spilt milk](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1714759/4ReU38zfL1716983056244/SPILT-MILK.jpg)
Spilt milk
Excess dietary calcium goes into toilets, not bones.
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To the Max
The testosterone and torments of late adolescence are centre stage in this novel about finding your place in life.
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A chemical killer
A new book outlines the life of a woman who may well have been New Zealand’s most prolific poisoner. What was it that led police to exhume the body of her husband from its watery grave?
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Creating the WOW factor
Meg Williams, in charge of the biggest festival involving a bunch of people wearing wacky outfits, admits she's not very flamboyant in her own dressing.
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Leaving it all on the park
After cancer treatment, Graeme Downes takes stock of a musical life leading The Verlaines and lecturing future generations of songwriters.
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Wrong message
A UK journalist who came here to talk about Rwanda’s authoritarian regime found herself the victim of a social media hate campaign.
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Busting a gut
IBD is escalating, seemingly thanks to the Western lifestyle, and New Zealand has one of the highest rates in the world.
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The point of Peters
There's been much to admire about the NZ First leader's politics over the years, but where has it got him?
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Don't call us ...
Finland's ingenuity galvanised the rapid global uptake of cellphones, so it's paradoxical the country's latest claim to fame should be the elevation of no-speakies to a new commercial opportunity.
![He is here](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1714759/xbsl_P8KF1716978196509/HE-IS-HERE.jpg)
He is here
In the week my brother died, there was a storm in the universe.