Silver Pencil 2020
Highlighted by the Dutch Foundation for Literature
The man with the sea-green eyes does not need much to be happy: he has no money and lives on whatever the sea offers up. But that changes one day when a bottle washes ashore with a treasure map in it. The man decides to demolish his house and use the wood to build a boat. He heads for the island where
the treasure is supposedly located. There, he is welcomed by a woman. He promises to stay with her until he finds the treasure and then reward her handsomely.
Day after day, the man with the sea-green eyes sets out in search of the treasure, but he digs up nothing but fragments. And every day, the woman is there for him, with tasty meals and encouraging words. When the man finally stumbles upon a wooden chest, he is faced with an agonising dilemma. What good is treasure to him if he has to say goodbye to the woman and leave the island behind?
