Literary fiction

In the Best Sense

Benedicte Meyer Kroneberg

Helene grew up with foster parents Anna and Helge. She has now started her own family and moved back to her home town in the hope of saving her marriage with Karl. It is winter, they are living in a huge old house, and Karl is working out of town. He says that he cannot come home because of the weather. This novel tells the story of Helene's search for companionship: about feeling like a guest in her foster parents' house, about young love, longing and loneliness. Helene and her growing sense of unease are headed for a storm: will Karl come home?I beste mening is an insightful novel about belonging. Benedicte Meyer Kroneberg explores communication problems in close relationships and how people can become lonely even in the most seemingly ideal situations. It is also a novel about those that fall between the cracks, about those who are too unforgiving for most, but not confident enough when it comes to those closest to them, and about how the incorrect assumptions we make about the motive of others can have serious consequences. ‘A strong story of being disconnected and the need to belong. … This book’s strength is the author’s insight into what it means to be human. It is with warmth that she investigates what is necessary to feel that you belong, how expectations of dedication can be too high and how trust is a risky business.’5/6 FÆDRELANDSVENNEN

Colder Towards Night

Britt Karin Larsen

There is a legal case going on in Elverum where several people are accused of taking part in illegal wolf-hunting. The bitter conflict between the defenders and the opponents of wolves which has been going on since the seventies is one of the themes of this book, which will be the last in this series and which moves us on to more recent times. We follow the same families, as some move back out from the city to try to make themselves a new life in the woods, while others turn their backs on Finnskogen for good. Oliver from Linna helps to bring Ruth, who is Jewish, and her children across the border to safety in Sweden. Many years later she tries to find him again, to thank him. Many journalists and researchers come to Finnskogen to gather knowledge of an almost forgotten culture and to try to save the last words of a language which will soon be extinct. People from other countries come to the woods to settle in cheap abandoned houses and feel themselves well received, while ”The Little German” Turid, child of a Skogfinnish mother and a German soldier father, even into her adult years feels unsure where she belongs. But her great gradmother told her about Mostamägg, and after living her whole life in Oslo, Turid wants to rediscover the remains of what was Taneli's and Lina's old croft. 'A welcome rarity in contemporary literature.' DAGBLADET 'It is hardly possible to find any match for such a venture with a comparable range of topics, breadth of human portrait and depth of landscape.'HAMAR ARBEIDERBLAD 'With the seventh book the multi-storied narrative has come full cycle, and the people of Finnskogen have had their history as vividly and intensely told as can only be achieved by an energetic writer with a strong calling for the topic.' ØSTLENDINGEN 'Britt Karin Larsen has impressively maintained tension and quality all through the long series about the people from Finnskogen.'AFTENPOSTEN 'Small and large stories are braided together, without losing the main perspectives; this is the classic art of story-telling.'GLÅMDALEN 'With ’Colder Towards Night,’ Britt Karin Larsen has brought a magnificent epic to a close.”DAGSAVISEN 'A welcome innovation in contemporary literature.'DAGBLADET

Let Us take the Blue Skies by Storm

Odveig Klyve

Let us take the Blue Skies by Storm tells the story about a political process with great opposites, with the building of great electrical masts in the area of Hardanger. The poems in this collection raises questions that concern us all, about managing the nature around us. Odveig Klyve animates relations and conflicts between people, nature and society in her distinctive way in this strong and important collection of poetry.

Loosing Louise

Kristin Berget

Loosing Louise is a poetry collection about to lovers, Louise and C, about a journey to the dessert, about a relationship ending where C is alone with her memories about Louise. A strong debut with a dynamic and playful composission, sharacterized by a convincing linguistic energy and musicality. AFTENPOSTENA lovely poetry collection about body, language, lust and identity. KLASSEKAMPEN

Magnet

Lars Saabye Christensen

Winner of the Brage Prize 2015. For nearly three years, every single day, Lars Saabye Christensen has been writing his new novel. It will be standing as a major work in his authorship. Beatles was his great youth work, The Half-Brother the middle-aged man's masterpiece. Magnet is the aging author's masterpiece. In this work, he has invested everything he has, and at the same time – and it is the most impressive – it seems that he is doing something completely new.Magnet is a love story. It is about a mismatched couple who try to pull in the same direction with all their might. Jokum is a photographer who will take pictures of the ordinary, he will see the beauty and melancholy in the world. Synne is an art historian with Edward Hopper as her specialty. She is drawn towards fame, towards the spectacular. He feels more at home in cheap stores and second hand shops than in galleries and museums. Through his pictures he will show how time is present in everything we have. He manages this. Until he takes a picture of their dead child.The novel was shortlisted for the Booksellers Book Award and the radio channel P2-listeners Novel Award.. 'There is something very unusual about being one of our most popular authors and being highly ranked in international literature at the same time. That is the status of Lars Saabye Christensen and his writing.' TØNSBERGS BLAD 'I rarely read a long novel which is so full of mature wisdom and beautiful language and which at the same time manages to surprise the reader with unexpected turns.' BERGENS TIDENDE 'For this is a bounding, scenically based story full of tragic life events and comic slapstick figures, complications, digressions and strange happenings, jokes, aphorisms, anecdotes, metaphors, paradoxes, allusions, quotations, blues songs, diary notes and sketches; cunningly put together; linked to distinct leitmotifs and with a formidable range of voice, scene and comment; carried forward by an ambiguity about love, art and culture, birth and death; focussed on arousing feelings and reflection more than pompous admiration.' STAVANGER AFTENBLAD 'Magnet is securely on a level with Beatles and The Half-brother.' VG 'In Magnet Lars Saabye Christensen delivers a best-seller; a tender, sore and seriously funny love story.' HAMAR ARBEIDERBLAD 'A master wordsmith is at work here.' P2 'Magnet is Saabye in absolute top form. A 780 page brick of a book, with all the typical and therefore slightly parodic Saabye elements intact, but fortunately so elegantly assembled that it not only tolerates the high number of pages and the feeling of repetition, but sometimes flourishes on them.' DAGSAVISEN ' ... a splendid read with bitter-sweet and recognisable pictures of the times and a genuinely exciting love-story of a very varied pair. The dialogue is tightly-written, impressive and quotable.' DAGENS NÆRINGSLIV 'Well prepared, well composed, well written, well presented. Enjoy!' VG

The Man who Broke the Sound Barrier

Arne Svingen

Birger Brunkeberg has an easy-going life. He has an enormous collection of CD's and a good friend in prison. But one day the doorbell rings and reality hits his life with a hard fist. Mannen som gikk gjennom lydmuren is the story of this happy music-lover and the life he didn't know he was missing. A feel-good rock-and-roll novel! '(…) a novel whose style and tempo resemble a rock tune, and which in its own terminology could have been written by Dr. Feelgood.'STAVANGER AFTENBLAD 'Arne Svingen’s latest book could be described as a real feel-good novel. If you mix Nick Hornby and Fredrik Backmann you will get a good idea of how it sounds.'DEMOKRATEN 'Svingen has repeatedly shown that he is an ingenious storyteller, and when he tosses in a suitable dose of feel-good factor as here, it becomes quite entertaining.'MOSS AVIS 'The novel therefore has something in common with Nick Hornby’s writings, not least ’High Fidelity’ and ’About a Boy.’ Birger is a charming nerd'ADRESSEAVISEN 'Readers of Arne Svingen’s books for children and young people will recognise the playful language and the irrepressible gallows humour.'AFTENPOSTEN

Berlin Marathon

Geir Olav Jørgensen

Erik has moved to Berlin with his wife and children to study art history.One day he makes it home early from his studies and see his wife in the back yard, conversing with the lawyer Rammstein - a known womanizer.The conversation is obviously flirtatious, and Erik is jealous.This is the start of an inner Marathon. A journey through the German night that he is anything but prepared for. Full German translation avaliable. "A riveting read"STAVANGER AFTENBLAD"Simply a good novel. A fine novel."NRK"He succeeds in writing out the irrational anxiety and worry about a pending catastrophe (…) This tensity stays with you throughout the entire novel. Jørgensen manages to plant the anxiety in the reader, almost physically."DAG OG TID

Mule Boy

Øyvind Torseter

The king has sent six of his seven sons out into the world to find suitable princesses. They do not return, and Mule Boy insists on finding out what happened to them. He discovers that the troll has turned them and their brides into stone. He enters the mountain to find the troll and free the princess that the troll has captured. This is a funny twist on an old folk tale. There is a lot of humour and funny lines in the book. It is impressive and exciting to enter the mountain together with Mule Boy, and the princess is both tough and charismatic. We also know Mule Boy from previous books. The illustrations are beautiful, funny and fanciful both in terms of line and use of colour.Mule Boy was nominated to The Nordic Councils Childrens Book Prize in 2016. ‘… a beautiful little hero story about impossible choices and fearlessness, about fighting for what you believe in and finding happiness. This is fun reading for adults and children, and it is perfect for young people who will go on to compare narrative styles and values in contemporary texts with those in myths and folklore when they are at upper secondary school. Mulegutten should feature in a course or three.’ DEMOKRATEN ‘Øyvind Torseter lets his imagination run riot through a classic story. It’s particularly funny if you’ve heard the story before. Curiosity, adventurousness and courage characterise the young prince who rides out to save his brothers. Curiosity is a word that can also be used when talking about Øyvind Torseter himself – the result is a fantastic picture book that both children and adults will love.’ NRK 'Torseter is an entertaining story-teller, in both words and pictures.' DAGBLADET Danish Review Cuttings: The Mule Boy by Øyvind Torseter ’Mulegutten is a formidable work (…) This book fully deserved the Norwegian Critics Prize for 2015, and stands out as the most original illustrated book in many years. If it were possible, this book should be given 7 full stars!’ BERLINGSKE ‘This is a supreme presentation of a folk tale. (…) Elements from the present day are brought in, but the traditional folk-tale struggle between good and evil is maintained. (…) Øyvind Torseter does this well. “And then the Princess and the Mule Boy lived happily ever after. ‘ BOGBOTTEN ’The picture pages are outstanding (…) Mulegutten is a modern hero in a classic epic. So he stands apart from the metaphor, leaving it to the reader’s imagination. This is beautifully done. FINE SPIND 'Mulegutten which at the same time celebrates, unites and renews the genres of the classic folk tale and the cartoon series (…) Mulegutten is a book for all ages, which offers much on many different levels.’ KRISTELIGT DAGBLAD ‘Torseter’s pictures have a quite special and modern quality. (…) A beautiful and exciting book, which is not afraid to be different.’ MICHAEL LINDAL ANDERSEN

Cheerful Death Poems

Jan Jakob Tønseth

Jan Jakob Tønseth has written a collection of cheerful death poems. After it was confirmed that he had breast cancer, his thoughts naturally turned to illness, time and death. It is with great authority and consciousness of form that he moves in a literary landscape where he quotes and engages in dialogues with other poets who have written about death: Wergeland, Baudelaire, Ekelöf and Nerval. There is a selection of sonnets from his stay in hospital and the convalescence period. He locates his scar in a historic context, writing about flowers and his sister, Kari. There are echoes of the Spanish poet Francisco de Quevedo (1500s) and of Baudelaire and Nerval. There are laments and biblical poems, and not least beautiful poems about Fagervann in Maridalen, where the sick go to find courage and strength. “Get up, young man/ and go to Fagervann.” This is a beautiful, gripping collection that makes the reader smile, chuckle and reflect on life and death. It is illustrated with old prints and drawings.

GONE

Terje Thorsen

Neiden 1970

Ingeborg Arvola

In Neiden 1970, Ingeborg Arvola writes about childhood with her father in the Kven village of Neiden in the far north of Norway, in East Finnmark on the Norwegian-Finnish border. Father eats apples clad only in his underpants and washes the cups and the socks in the same water. The fishing trips last all night and the drinking binges even longer. Their life together is full of joy, a sense of belonging, alcoholic withdrawal shakes and conscientious hard work. Childhood and adult life reflect each other in this powerful and tender novel. 'This is a beautiful book, written with great love, candour and warmth.'NORDLYS