Writers tell us about their favourite book: the book that inspires or touches them, that set their artistic, moral or intellectual compass. In short, the book they would recommend to everyone. Interview: Anne Jonker.

Maddy Stolk tells about Maria Dermoût's De tienduizend dingen (The Ten Thousand Things), a classic from 1955 that continues to inspire readers worldwide to this day. When the novel was published in the United States in 1958, it knocked Doctor Zhivago and Breakfast at Tiffany's off the bestseller lists. The novel has been reprinted countless times in Dutch. Maria Dermoût (Pekalongan, 1888 - Noordwijk aan Zee, 1962) was born on Java in what was then the Dutch East Indies, went to school in The Netherlands and travelled back and forth between the two countries throughout her life. Her years in the former Dutch East Indies inspired her to write various novels and stories, such as De tienduizend dingen, her masterpiece that became an international success.