Stage Four: A Novel

Written by Sander Kollaard

Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki

From an award-winning Dutch author comes a heartbreaking and poetic novel about a couple’s lasting love and their dedication to living out their dream.

Dutch couple Sarie and Barend Vervoort celebrate their retirement by buying a camper van and hitting the road. Their intention is to drive around Europe, fulfilling Sarie’s wanderlust and returning to some of the places they traveled together when they first met, in 1968.

But then Sarie falls seriously ill—diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. The tragic discovery forces them to completely redefine their trip. Bravely, they hold on to what has bound them together from the beginning: the wish to live fulfilling lives, based on a great love. As Sarie decides to squarely face what is coming, Barend protects her physically, emotionally, and mentally by enabling this last, unbearably intimate trip as they retrace the entirety of their life—from its beginnings to its inevitable end.

A novel of an extraordinary journey, Stage Four explores the beautiful and painful devotion that comes from love, unexpected deliverance, and directing a life slowly slipping away.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Translator: Michele Hutchison
• Release date: Feb 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543664836

Sander Kollaard

Sander Kollaard (b. 1961, Amstelveen, the Netherlands) debuted in 2012 with the prizewinning short-story collection The Immediate Return of Your Loved One. Stage Four, his first novel, was published in the Netherlands in 2015 and became an immediate bestseller. A second short-story collection, Life Messages, will be out in early 2018, to be followed later in the year by a novel, From the Life of a Dog. Sander lives in Sweden with his wife, three children, and quite a lot of animals.