The Archive

It’s an emerging writer’s dream: becoming the editor in-chief of a literary magazine, discussing copy with colleagues, making a name for yourself among the intelligentsia and taking your first steps in the literary world. When Pierre Rosenau is invited to join the editorial team for Arabesque magazine, he is thrilled. But nearly five decades after first appearing on the Dutch literary scene, the once-thriving publication’s print run is low and they only have a handful of subscribers left.

The new editorial team tries to turn the tide and give Arabesque a fresh lease on life. But it proves to be an uphill battle – despite having a new publisher, arts funding and ‘exciting new plans’ to reach a broader readership, their efforts seem to be falling flat. Meeting over drinks, they find themselves wondering whether they’re ‘breathing new life into the magazine or just giving it a last hurrah.'

Pierre is close with his introverted father, who used to be editor-in-chief of a literary magazine himself and continues to live in the past. They share their love of literature, but they’re also both men stuck on the sidelines of life, ‘staring silently into the middle distance.’ The magazine’s demise and Pierre’s decision to quit his job unfold in tandem with his father’s illness, a painful process which Heerma van Voss describes with tenderness and poignancy.

Over the course of his life, Pierre’s father amassed his own vast, rather chaotic private archive, governed by a logic all his own. His efforts sometimes met with irritation or bewilderment from his loved ones, but he was adamant that it was all filed away ‘for later use.’ His son eventually realises that this feverish collecting was in fact only relevant to himself – and comes to appreciate how that is nonetheless beautiful in its own way. Ultimately, this is a novel about the comfort of ephemerality and celebrating what’s important to you – even if no one else cares about it.