The Darkroom of Damocles

A classic pitch-black wartime thriller from the author of An Untouched House

'I immerse myself in the book, intimidated at first by its length, astonished afterwards to find I have read it at a single sitting... The suspense never falters' Milan Kundera

Under Nazi occupation, Henri Osewoudt finds himself drawn into the resistance by his near-doppelgänger, the ruthless Dorbeck, Soon Osewoudt has entered a world that is a photo negative of his previous humdrum existence – carrying messages, helping British agents to escape and killing collaborators. But how much of it is real?

The Darkroom of Damocles is a razor-sharp classic thriller set in a world where everything is permitted, even murder. As unsettling and morally challenging today as when it was first written.



Willem Frederik Hermans (1921–1995) was one of the most prolific and versatile Dutch authors of the twentieth century. In 1977 he received the Dutch Literature Prize – the most prestigious literary prize in the Netherlands. He is considered one of the three most important authors in the Netherlands in the postwar period, along with Harry Mulisch and Gerard Reve. Hermans' An Untouched House was published by Pushkin Press in 2016 to rave reviews. Beyond Sleep and Memories of a Guardian Angel are also forthcoming.