A German Wedding

Pieter Waterdrinker was born in Haarlem, Holland. He studied Russian, French and Law at the University of Amsterdam. A novelist, journalist and broadcaster, he is the Moscow correspondent for the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. He lives in Moscow.

The 1950s, a gaudily decorated provincial hotel in an old-fashioned Dutch seaside resort, the evening before a wedding: with lies, misdemeanors and an oompah band all hiding in the wings, everything looks set to spin utterly, riotously out of control...

When Jacob and Maria roll out the red carpet to welcome their future family members, they spare no expense. Not to be outdone, Hans - the father of the bride - has brought his sausage factory's thirty-strong oompah band, The Fleshtones, all the way from Germany to lend his daughter's wedding a little extra je ne sais quoi. It's shaping up to be the party of the century!

But almost immediately the edifice begins to crumble. Ludo has caught the clap; Liza's bitchy, sex-addicted mother is lying about absolutely everything to absolutely everybody; and a shocking article in a local newspaper reveals that both Hans and Jacob are hiding very shady pasts...

Will the bride wise up? Is the groom going to be able to resist Betsy, the daughter of the disgraced local Dutch Nazi party leader? Can Kati get away with cavorting with the hotel doorman? Skeletons fly out of closets with reckless abandon as The German Wedding careens toward its dramatic denouement.

The German Wedding is The Corrections crossed with Festen and The Producers. This is a darkly funny novel which will delight its readers.