This multi-award-winning novel by Jaap Robben - a Dutch poet, playwright and author of children’s books - is a coming-of-age story that explores the not-so-romantic side of living on a remote island. Located off the coast of Norway, the fictional island is home to a tiny secluded community, its very few inhabitants exposed to rough weather and lacking socialization. Without proper schooling and only having rare contacts with other people, the protagonist - a boy of 9 - entraps a seagull with its chick and sets about to care for them. This somewhat dark book exudes eeriness and explores the psychological strain and mental issues the protagonists face living on a secluded island.

You have me to love is set on a remote island between Norway and Scotland. Only one family lives there – the nine-year-old Mikael and his father and mother, plus a solitary neighbour. The mail arrives every week by boat. One day fate strikes: Mikael’s father drowns after saving his son from the sea. It happened by the rock that his mother had often warned him about. The rock I must ‘never- never-never, look at me, never jump off.’ By keeping quiet about what happened, Mikael – who at the time of the fatal event is nine – hopes to change reality. It is some time before the reader learns the truth about what happened. In a penetrating way Robben gets under the skin of a boy who is consumed by guilt, uncertainty about the future and confusion about how to deal with his grieving mother.

Dutch Bookstore Prize 2015
ANV Debutante Award 2015
Diorapthe Youth Literature Audience Award 2015
Longlist Dublin Literary Award 2016
Brooklyn Book Festival Best Debut Novel 2018

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