Leyla Sanai

Escape into fantasy: My Heavenly Favourite, by Lucas Rijneveld, reviewed

The 14-year-old daughter of a Dutch farmer is pursued by a paedophile vet and tries hard to combat the abuse by imagining she’s a bird

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld after winning the International Booker Prize in 2020. [Getty Images] 
issue 27 January 2024
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  • My Heavenly Favourite

    Lucas Rijneveld, translated by Michele Hutchison

    Faber, pp. 352, £16

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