Medicine student Emma Trouwborst has written a debut novel about espionage and romance: ‘My characters sometimes feel so real’

“Someone pushed a microphone into my hand at the book launch. It was awful; I was so nervous”, Emma laughs. Yet, there she was last week: in front of a room of more than 40 people, including friends, family and strangers. Her book, Masker van verraad (Mask of Betrayal), is the result of six years of writing, rewriting and a publisher she won in a writing competition. “I still can’t believe that people can go out and buy my book now.”

Emma wrote most of her book – about a spy who falls in love with the prince she is spying on – when she was 16. Which is why it’s a young adult book, aimed at readers aged 15 and older: “I was about this age myself at the time, so it made complete sense to write about the world as I saw it then.” She completed her manuscript in less than a year. Although she continued to write as a hobby afterwards, none of her other stories ever felt as good as this one. It had never crossed her mind to publish her story, let alone enter a writing competition.

If wasn’t until years later, in 2023, that Emma decided to bite the bullet and enter a writing competition – and she won. Which got her through the doors of book publisher Rebel Books. Everything started to happen really quickly after that. She started to rewrite her story, which turned out to be an intensive process: from tightening up the plot to refining the sentence structure.

Emma is now 22 and a fifth-year medical student. She worked on her book in the evenings and at weekends, in between medical internships. “I’ve always said that it can’t ever be anything more than a hobby; my study comes first. I wrote when I felt like it. So, no pressure.”

Emma has published her book under the name Emma Francis, a pseudonym she chose so she could keep her future career as a doctor separate from her work as a writer. Francis is her middle name, which Emma thinks has a much better ring to it than Trouwborst for an author.

Masker van verraad is a young adult book with everything you might expect of the genre: action, suspense and a hint of forbidden love. But there’s also doubts, mistakes and personal struggles. “I wanted my characters to be human. Rebellious, but with a sensitive side. No one’s perfect.” She’s most proud of the action and dialogue scenes. “I invent my characters, but they sometimes feel so real – it’s as if I’m just writing down what they whisper in my ear.”

In Masker van verraad, the reader follows Ara, a spy who has been sent on a mission to Waldenen to bring down an enemy court. But when she meets headstrong Prince Alexander, she finds herself faced with a difficult choice: how to spy for one state while losing her heart to the prince of another state?

Emma gets her inspiration from literally everywhere: books, films, conversations with others and even when she’s sat on a train. “I’ll be staring out the window when an idea will suddenly pop into my head.”

Besides an exciting story, Emma also presents her readers with some bigger questions: “How will you respond in a situation where you have to do something you don’t want to do? How can you make sure you stay true to yourself? Themes like this recur throughout the book.”

Emma identifies most with Ara, her female protagonist. “I see a lot of myself in her. But I also enjoyed giving her traits that I don’t have. That was an interesting challenge.”

Anyone who reads Masker van verraad will soon realise that the story isn’t over. Will there be a sequel? Emma nods cautiously. “The manuscript was actually split in two because the story was too long to fit into one book.” She’s stopping at part one for the time being and will wait to see how this book is received before starting part two. “I want to make sure I take the time to enjoy this special moment.”

But reading between the lines, it’s clear that this is unlikely to be Emma’s last book. During her internships, she records special experiences in a diary. “Who knows, I might do something with them one day”, she says. “I’ve got lots of ideas – I haven’t entirely given up the habit of jotting them down.”