Literature and Fiction · Hardback

Guardian of the Gate

Norwegian title: Bomvokteren

Aksel Selmer

Bomvokteren is the tale of a young girl who inherits the job of gate guardian when her grandfather grows older and falls ill. The job involves watching the gate at a mountain pass, and the girl must live alone in a miserable cabin at the side of the road.

It is a restricted and strange universe that is depicted; surrounded by the foggy and barren natural landscape around her, she continues her toil alone at the gate station as the cars come and go, occasionally making a stop.

There are familiar elements within this story, but reality doesn't necessarily resemble what we know. The tale could as easily be set in the 1950s or 60s as it could in the near future. The living conditions differ from our own, and survival in the harshest of environments is key.

‘Norwegian Aksel Selmer surprises with a story about the conditions for goodness in an evil world that is equal parts beautiful, strange and grim. This is outstanding.’6/6,JYLLANDSPOSTEN‘Fascinating story about a young, naïve girl appointed to look after a turnpike on a lonely mountain. ... Publisher Jensen & Dalgaard found this hypnotising story by Norwegian Aksel Selmer, ... a small publisher that finds and publishes translated quality literature from abroad. And that is precisely what Bomvogtersken is.’WEEKENDAVISEN‘Myth and realism combine in Aksel Selmer’s fascinating Bomvogtersken. A world that is both mystifying yet familiar.’BERLINGSKE TIDENDE

‘Aksel Selmer has written a great novel. High time that the reading public discovered this author’s works.’DAG OG TID

‘It is what remains elusive and unresolved in Bomvokteren that attracts you. That you can never be quite certain elicits a mixed feeling of repulsion and enchantment – and that is what stimulates in new writing.’DAGSAVISEN

‘Bomvokteren is a fascinating novel that, among other themes, deals with how to survive, face up to challenges, be poor and totally under control of others and how to live at the intersection between two worlds.’FÆDRELANDSVENNEN