Literature and Fiction · Hardback

America

Norwegian title: Amerika

Gro Dahle

The short stories in Amerika together make up a coherent narrative. The same characters appear in all of them: the girl, the mother and the father. The stories are all about the little family's life when they move to the big land of America.

Two adults and a child: at the table; in the car; on holiday. A little girl growing up with a pinewood in the background. A father who yearns for spruce trees. A mother who has discovered sweet potatoes. Sometimes things are tight and difficult. Tangled misunderstandings and feelings of guilt; knotted stomachs, tense necks and anxious thoughts; days when everything is unattainable and it seems as if Death is standing right beside the bed. It's a matter of survival. Just keep breathing.

Then they travel home, but to be at home is not always to feel at home. Some people never return, for there isn't always a way back.