In the Dutch Mountains by Cees Nooteboom
In Nederland (“In the Netherlands”) is a novel by Dutch writer Cees Nooteboom.
A morose provincial inspector of roads in Aragon settles down to write the fable of the Snow Queen. The Netherlands has now been stretched into a vast country with Northern flatlands and hazardous Alpine ranges in the south. Kai and Lucia are circus illusionists, and when Kai is kidnapped, Lucia must rescue him from the Snow Queen’s palace. In the Dutch Mountains is an elegantly constructed story within a story, laced with the wit that characterises the work of this outstanding European writer.
First published in Dutch by De Arbeiderspers in 1984, it was translated to the English by Adrienne Dixon (1932–1990) and published by Louisiana State University Press in 1987, under the title In the Dutch Mountains. Shown here is the cover of Penguin’s paperback edition from 1991, with cover art by David Davies. The design is by Melissa Jacoby.
For title and author’s name, she chose a typeface that was released around 1932 – shortly before Nooteboom was born (1933): it’s Schwung-Adastra, an extension of Adastra (1928) with swash caps. The inclined inline face was cut by August Rosenberger at the Stempel foundry in Frankfurt, after designs by Herbert Thannhaeuser. Outside Germany, Adastra was also known as Royal.
Cees Nooteboom died 11 February 2026 at the age of 92. RIP.
