De spiegelingen is a lyrical novel. Although Erwin Mortier had already published 3 collections of essays, 4 of poetry and four novels, he broke through to a larger audience with his fifth novel Godenslaap, which won the national book award. De spiegelingen is his sixth novel and achieves the same heights as Godenslaap.

Mortier does not (yet) have a distinct style. Although he hasn't published any poetry after 2007, his output remains divided between essays and novels. Thematically, the novels are also wide apart, some displaying a strong religious background.

De spiegelingen was published in 2014, the first centennial of the First World War. Between 2009 and 2012 Mortier translated and published the war journals of three nurses or volunteers who worked on the front during the Great War. In 2009, the book by the American nurse Ellen N. La Motte, in 2011 a book by the American nurse Mary Borden and in 2012 the diaries by the British volunteer Enid Bagnold.

The first part of the novel De spiegelingen is clearly inspired by these works. It is the longest and mostly deeply felt part of the novel. It describes how the main character is wounded and nursed back to health. It also describes the relationship between Edgar and Matthew. This sexual relation is the reiterated in all subsequent episodes of the novel, although Matthew was apparently bisexual and marries Edgar’s sister, their bond is transformed into comradeship.

The novel consists of a series of episodes. Each episode describes a new phase in Edgar’s life with a new gay lover. Each new relationship is like an echo of that first relationship, and each new relationship it entered with the scars from that first relationship, mental and physical scars. The old relationship is mirrored in the new relationships. Sexuality is described in a very explicit, brutal way. Thus,comradeship and the violence of war in the first relationship are reflected in later relationships in love and sexuality. Partners in later relationships are also international, from all races and continents.

While sexuality is described very explicitly and shocking, the novel contains many beautiful and lyrical passages, which remind of the works of the French author Philippe Besson. ( )