Welcome Home Amsterdam
a literary guidebook to the city
by Talia Stone
Release date, April 2025
Welcome Home Amsterdam
A literary guidebook to the city
Author: Talia Stone
Cover Design & illustrations: Cigdem Guven
Editor: Anna Trapmore
Layout: Lisa Hall
text: English
ISBN/EAN paperback: 978-9-08347-971-2
ISBN eBook: 979-8-23011-615-8
From the daily dance of the herons at Albert Cuyp Market to the sisterly myth behind the iconic Skinny Bridge, how well do you know the Dutch capital?
Welcome Home Amsterdam is a unique collection of short stories celebrating the city – its past, its present and its people. Through interwoven fictional lives, the book offers a genuine feel of the real Amsterdam. Some of her most famous features are brought to life alongside everyday scenes of family and friendship, of cycling, fishing and swimming, capturing the authentic culture of the capital today through tales of humanity and connection.
It is no coincidence that water streams through these stories, threading them together, although the characters themselves are unaware that they are intertwined.
What People Are Saying
“There have of course been many books over the years that are tied to a specific place, whose characters and events all circle a specific locale, but I can’t think of any that do it in quite this way; usually they’re more like ‘ghost stories’ than they are little vignettes of lives, events, and ways of living. I think my favorite thing about them is that each is about love, if that doesn’t sound too sappy. But it’s true. Whether it’s a young romance, an old and deep attachment, friendship, family bonds, etc., everyone here is trying to be noticed or trying to support their loved ones. It’s a really beautiful throughline and it makes Amsterdam seem so much like a city, not just a place people can visit. It really is such a welcome—and a much needed one in this increasingly hostile world. These stories really step into peoples’ lives and have a look around.”
— Patrick Nathan, Author of Image Control, Some Hell (finalist in the Lambda Literary Award) & The Future Was Color
“It’s interesting how Talia dramatizes an historic element while shaping it into an emotional tale that reads like a piece of Amsterdam’s history.”
— Jilles Duindam, Screenwriter and part of the Creative Team at the American Book Center in Amsterdam
About the author, Talia Stone
Talia Stone worked as an editor in television, film and advertising for more than 15 years before deciding to focus on her favourite part of storytelling: writing. She is now a Writing Coach and also an experienced Amsterdam Tour Guide. This collection is a natural outcome of her creative adventures.
