The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Rijneveld, Marieke Lucas. The Discomfort of Evening. Faber & Faber Ltd: Bloomsbury House, 2020.

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld's The Discomfort of Evening is told from Jas Mulder's adolescent first person perspective. The narrative is told in the present tense, and largely assumes an associative stream of consciousness progression.

When Jas is ten, she begins refusing to take off her red coat, finding comfort in the covering. Two days before Christmas she starts fearing her father's plans to kill her rabbit for the holiday. That night she prays that God will take her older brother Matthies instead of the rabbit. The next day, Jas is horrified and guilty, when the vet appears with news of Matthies's drowning while skating.

In the days that follow, Matthies's coffin takes up residence in the family living room. Jas starts a habit of checking in on him at night, convinced he will resurrect. When Matthies fails to return, Jas attempts to understand his absence through memories, Bible verses and math solutions.

A year-and-a-half later, Jas helps the community children collect toads out of the street. The onslaught of amphibians reminds Jas of the Biblical plagues, convincing her that God is punishing their family and village. Jas takes two toads for herself and keeps them in her room. Since Matthies's death, she has begun sleeping in his former attic room. When is alone in the attic, Jas puts her bear between her legs and lists all the things she wants. Other times she watches and talks to her toads.

Meanwhile, Jas's parents, referred to as Mum and Dad throughout the novel, retreat further into themselves. Mum stops eating, and Dad's temper worsens. Jas begins fearing Mum will kill herself and Dad will leave the family for good. To distract herself from her parents' emotional distance and constant arguments, Jas spends increasing amounts of time with her siblings. She and Hanna take a bath together every night, and play together before bed time. While they sometimes talk about their parents, their desires and fears, the girls spend much of their time planning their escape to the other side. The other side refers to the world beyond the girls' Reformed religious farming community, and offers the possibility of escape and hope. Other nights, when the girls are not formulating their plan, they experiment with their bodies, learning anatomies and sexualities. At times, Obbe joins in their games.

In one day, word of foot-and-mouth disease spreads throughout the community. Through Obbe, Jas learns that their entire herd of cattle is infected and will have to be put down. The news causes further unrest in the family, and makes Jas realize the impossibility of communicating with her parents. Not long later, Jas witnesses Dad and the other farmers putting down the herd.

In the days following, Dad becomes obsessed with checking the mole hills, a project in which he often involves Jas. One night he interrogates Jas about her coat, insisting that she is an embarrassment and will have to take it off the next day. The next day, Obbe forces Jas to kill the rooster in order to keep their parents from dying. Jas feels so guilty afterwards, she begs Hanna to hold her.

Inside, Jas grows impatient waiting for Dad to come in and remove her coat. She sneaks down into the basement and crawls into the freezer. Lying on the frozen food, she shuts the lid and tells Matthies she will soon be with him.