Often called “the universal language,” music forms the foundation of Karlijn Stoffels’s novel Heartsinger, or, in her native Netherlands, Koningsdochter, zeemanslief (which translates literally as “King’s Daughter, Sailor’s Sweetheart”). The spare, lyrical fairy tale revolves around Mee, a singer of sorrows, and Mitou, a merrymaker. After learning of Mee, Mitou becomes determined to find him. Translator Laura Watkinson felt it was crucial to preserve the cadence of the narrative in English. “I think I was very lucky with this book; my natural writing style correlates nicely with Karlijn Stoffels’,” Watkinson says. “The first time I read through [the book], the rhythm got in my head.”
The novel chronicles not only Mee and Mitou’s travels, but also threads together the tales of the various characters they heal with their music. Editor Cheryl Klein says that’s what drew her to Heartsinger, among other qualities: “the narrative form of it, the many interlinked stories—it’s not something I’d seen in an American book.” When considering candidates for translation, Klein says she likes to “upend what [Americans] consider traditional literary genres or forms. It’s always exciting to widen the intellectual conversation kids are having.”
Stoffels, it turns out, also speaks English (as well as French and German). When asked if she were tempted to translate her novel herself for her U.S. audience, she responded, “No, no, never! If you are not a native speaker, you don’t have the nuance,” Stoffels explains. “Even if I studied and taught for 10 years in that language, I would not trust myself to translate from Dutch to French” (though she would in the case of French to Dutch). As a translator herself, Stoffels says puns present perhaps the greatest challenge, so she especially appreciates Watkinson’s work on Heartsinger. “The words in English do not produce the same joke,” says Stoffels. “Sometimes Laura made a new joke based on the English words; sometimes she had to lose the joke. There’s quite a bit of wordplay in the book, and Laura [handled] it beautifully.”
Klein involved Stoffels in the translation process, which the author appreciated, since many publishers do not. One of the bigger changes was the chapter headings. Klein wanted each chapter title to correlate to the character featured within it to help “[shape] readers’ expectations.” Stoffels agreed to the change. Together, Stoffels, Watkinson, and Klein have
produced with Heartsinger something akin to a piece of chamber music for an American audience. “The music of the sentences, the rhythm is different because English is different from Dutch,” Stoffels said, describing Watkinson’s translation. “But the book as a piece of music has the same rhythm and musicality as my book. She may have transposed it into another key, but the melody is the same.”
