Marie Kinge's critically acclaimed debut novel You Can't Fool Me is a coming-of-age story about a daughter whose veterinarian father gradually succumbs to depression and drug abuse, and eventually takes his own life.
Kinge is one of four nominees for the prestigious Tarjei Vesaas Debutant Prize, previously awarded to some of Norway's most esteemed writers such as Roy Jacobsen, Karin Fossum, Lars Saabye Christensen and more.
Jury's statement
Uncomfortable childhood experiences and complicated parent-child relationships are by no means uncommon subjects in Norwegian fiction debuts. But few manage to convey those experiences with such emotional power, and to write about the complexities in such a nuanced way as Marie Kinge in You Can't Fool Me. The protagonist's sometimes boundless father – who involves his daughter directly in his veterinary practice and lets her witness an escalating drug abuse – is described with warmth and wisdom. Already in the opening, one realises that he is going to commit suicide, but the persistent threat is constantly broken up by moments that tremble with everyday happiness and intense closeness. Kinge writes concisely and unsentimentally, with a bouncy style that makes the reader part of chaotic experiences, while at the same time knowing how to dwell on the odd episodes that flesh out the portrait. You Can't Fool Me effortlessly and insightfully deals with difficult topics, but above all, it is a strong novel that it's impossible not to be touched by.
About You Can't Fool Me
The first time I found him dead, it was an ordinary Wednesday.
Being a veterinarian means deciding between life and death, knowing all about numbing pain and ending lives on a daily basis. To be a veterinarian’s daughter means assisting in surgeries and going on home-visits to the animal owners. It means diving for crabs in the summertime, insistently noticing all the nature and life that surrounds you. It means checking each day how big Dad’s pupils are, frightened that he’s done it for real this time, that he’s really dead. It means growing and learning to look at yourself through the eyes of others, while dad’s world is slowly shrinking.
Marie Kinge’s debut novel is a coming-of-age story from a childhood unlike most others. You Can’t Fool Me is the story of a father and daughter, of how far or close the apple falls from the tree, about ending lives, about what you keep from your childhood, and what you leave behind.
Kinge’s writing is reminiscent of Tove Jansson in how she evokes the lightness of summer days and childhood curiosity, while her descriptions of the everyday life, marked by work, drugs, despair and suicide have more in common with Tove Ditlevsen.
