About the Book

Mainly out of loneliness, a messed-up writer falls in love with Marthe, his female main character, and decides not to let her die as initially planned, but to invite her into his life to help him write his next novel.

He also welcomes popular characters from other successful novels, all experts in love. In addition, he summons Vivian, a prostitute – like Vivian from the movie “Pretty Woman” – who is an expert in “love for sale” to spice up the story.

The characters (and their writer) embark on an erotic journey of sensuality, sex, and murder, as the writer takes copious notes that turn into an unusual meta-novel offering different vistas on life, death, murder, and love.

The story ends in Vietnam at the lake of Dalat, where according to an old legend, pine trees formed intimate couples holding each other, entwining their roots after a young couple committed suicide. The legend renews itself at midnight the day the writer’s group arrives. Will they find love or will they seek death?

About the Author

A native of Belgium, Hugo Van Bever now resides in Singapore, where he is a professor of paediatrics at the National University Medical School. His other novels include A Sweet Double Murder, When Death Does Not Part, and On My Father’s Bike.