THE TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR A FINANCIAL TIMES TRANSLATED FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR __________ It is 1941, and Antwerp is in the grip of Nazi occupation. Young policeman Wilfried Wils has no intention of being a hero - but war has a way of catching up with people. When his idealistic best friend draws him into the growing resistance movement, and an SS commander tries to force him into collaborating, Wilfried's loyalties become horribly, fatally torn. As the beatings, destruction and round-ups intensify across the city, he is forced into an act that will have consequences he could never have imagined. A searing portrayal of a man trying to survive amid the treachery, compromises and moral darkness of occupation, Will asks what any of us would risk to fight evil.

"A brilliant, uncomfortable exploration of the moral compromises necessary to live alongside evil" - The Times, Historical Fiction Book of the Year

"I loved this book. Will is a vivid, complex, and captivating novel about the grubby moral compromises of life under occupation" - Bart van Es, author of The Cut Out Girl

"A masterful book, a gripping epic, necessary and gorgeously written" - Stefan Hertmans, author of War and Turpentine

"Constantly grapples with what the ordinary man might do when faced with a horror so huge that to resist might threaten his very survival. Olyslaegers bravely explores moral compromise, betrayal and collaboration - and throws our polarised times into sharp relief" - Observer

"It is Will's inner darkness that drives this book, and it lends a ferocious energy to the narration... Olyslaegers seems intent on pulling the scales from our eyes" - Guardian

"Will is suited to a time when people can remain apolitical only by hiding from politics" - Financial Times

"A violently atmospheric novel... asks the big, implicating questions about the shadowy terrain of appeasement" - Daily Mail

"A dark story of the dangers of herd mentality" - Metro

"Jeroen Olyslaegers is never judgmental, but he makes a terrifying judgement: this happened once and this could happen again... More than a meeting with history, this is a meeting with ourselves" - Livres hebdo

"Captivating... addictive reading, and offering a new perspective on a period of history whose disasters still sadly echo in our day and age" - Thriller Books Journal

"A lyrical meditation on guilt and evil" - De Tijd

"A gripping panorama which moves the reader from tears to laughter, one minute turning the pages avidly, the next filled with dread... Disturbing and provocative" - L'Express

"What do you do if evil invades your city?... Olyslaegers, a Flemish author whose grandfather was a Nazi collaborator, is masterly in probing the moral quandaries of collaboration. This is historical fiction at its best: provocative, uncomfortable and illuminating" - The Times, Historical Fiction Book of the Month

"A brilliant, morally complex creation... in a fine translation... and is a compelling read" - Observer, Best Books of 2019

"A book that manages to cause this degree of disquiet is a classic" - De Standaard (five stars)

"I couldn't recommend Will more highly, and I suspect we might hear quite a bit more from Olyslaegers" - Giles McDonogh

"An important and confrontational book in which the past continues to resonate with the present, in a style sharp as a razor" - NRC Handelsblad (five stars)

"A book that asks many questions, plunging us into the streets of Nazi-occupied Antwerp and resonating with the present day" - Les Inrocks

"A book like a slap in the face" - De Morgen

"A truly epic story" - Transfuge

"This powerful novel proves that, despite the overwhelming amount of war literature available, valuable additions are still possible" - De Volkskrant

"Captivating" - Télérama

"Among the ocean of novels written about the Nazi occupation, Will stands out for its force and singularity... A majestic style, blending the colloquial with the lyrical" - Lire

"This inventive author grabbed me with his bold, appealing images and furiously paced scenes" - De Groene Amsterdammer

"Introduces an original, fresh perspective on a period that seems to have been written to death" - Knack

"Will's earthy yet lyrical language is masterly. Jeroen Olyslaegers's best novel" - De Tijd

"Without doubt one of the year's best Flemish novels" - Het Nieuwsblad