The Knife in the Fire by Ingeborg Arvola and The Unworthy by Roy Jacobsen are nominated to the Norwegian Bookseller's Award.

The award is decided by all booksellers across the country. Each year, every bookseller has the opportunity to nominate their favourite book published across all genres that year for the prize, and the ten most voted for make up to list of nominees. This year over 100 titles were suggested as nominees. From the ten nominated books, each bookseller will vote again to decide the winner, which will be announced November 22nd.

 

Ingeborg Arvola is nominated for the Norwegian Bookseller’s Award for the first time, despite her debut dating back to 1999. This year, with The Knife in the Fire she has experienced her great breakthrough and has been one of the bestselling books this autumn. She is also one of two authors who are nominated both for the prestigious Brage Prize as well as the Bookseller’s Award.

 

Roy Jacobsen on the other hand, is not a new name on this list. He has previously won the award twice: In 1991 for his breakthrough novel The Victors, and again in 2009 for Child Wonder. If he wins again this year, he will be the first author to receive the award three times.

 

The Knife in the Fire by Ingeborg Arvola

This autumn, we have repeated and reiterate Ingeborg Arvola's name. She has written a riveting historical novel about work and love, strong communities, and carefree erotica, the individual and the community. The year is 1859. Brita Caisa Seipajærvi straps on her skis and takes the long road from Finland to Norway with her two children. Brita Caisa has been disciplined by the church for having an affair with a married man. She can heal animals and humans. The destination for their journey is Bugøynes, where the sea is said to be brimming with cod.

A NORLA selected title this autumn.

Sample translation and synopsis available.

 

The Unworthy by Roy Jacobsen

Diverging from his immense success series about Barrøy, Roy Jacobsen has written a wise, brutal and entertaining novel about a gang of boys and girls who live in poverty on the east side of Oslo during the WWII German occupation. They get by creatively swindling, stealing like magpies, falsifying documents and committing extensive burglaries. They don’t shy away from exploiting the Enemy, either. With this pack of children, a lauded writer has rendered a brutally frank and warm portrait of a time, a place and an everyday life that thus far have been absent from the stories told of WWII. This is a Roy Jacobsen novel of best mark.

A NORLA selected title this autumn.

Sample translation available.