Literature and Fiction · Hardback

It's Ringing

Norwegian title: Det ringer

Evgenia Bektasova

In It's Ringing, we meet people on the fringes of the safe and understandable: lonely souls who reach out for contact, care and meaning – often in ways that seem both strange and disturbing. Here, the uncomfortable lurks beneath the surface, in short stories about relationships, especially between mother and child – about distance, expectations and what is never said. The mothers in these short stories are not just caregivers, but strange and disturbing people who challenge what we think we know about closeness and responsibility.

These are stories about what lives within us all: hidden fears, repressed trauma and an almost desperate search for meaning. With a unique language, Evgenia Bektasova shows how inner life can break out – unexpectedly, raw and without mercy.

"The newcomer thus manages what many debut authors struggle with, namely under-explaining rather than over-explaining (...) The darkness lies lurking in several of the short stories and must be opened up by the reader (...) Bektasova has created nine portraits that are witty, sad, and deeply human"MORGENBLADET