Bringing the Brontës Home with David McKay

Anjet Daanje's The Song of Stork and Dromedary was an unprecedented literary success in the Netherlands, winning acclaim as the best Dutch novel of this century. Inspired by the myths and magic of the Brontës, Daanje weaves an intricate web of story around Eliza May Drayden, a fictionalised version of Emily Brontë. Eliza May's story unfolds through the tales of people who met her; a passage from her controversial novel Haeger Mass; her sister’s letters; her biographers’ words; the pages of a mysterious notebook; and the lives that become intertwined with hers, even centuries later.

Much of Daanje's novel is set in Bridge Fowling, a fictional version of Haworth. David McKay, who translates Daanje's work into English, faced a unique challenge. How might a translator bring a novel crafted for a Dutch audience home to the English language, to British readers, and to the hills and dales of West Yorkshire? His research took him to Haworth, the nearby moors, and the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

David McKay is an award-winning translator of Dutch fiction and nonfiction. Anjet Daanje writes novels, short stories, and screenplays. Her novel The Remembered Soldier was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2026.

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