Aldegonda Petronella Huberta Maria "Connie" Palmen (born 25 November 1955) is a Dutch author. Palmen debuted with the novel De wetten (1990), published in the United States as The Laws (1993), translated by Richard Huijing. The Laws was shortlisted for the 1996 International Dublin Literary Award. Her second novel was De vriendschap (1995), published in the United States as The Friendship (2000), translated by Ina Rilke. It is the story of the lifelong friendship of two girls with completely different characters. Palmen had a relationship with Ischa Meijer in the years preceding his death in 1995. From 1999 on she lived with D66 politician Hans van Mierlo until his death on 11 March 2010. The couple married on 11 November 2009 Source: Wikipedia (en)