Rights catalogue

The Knife in the Fire

Ingeborg Arvola

The Knife in the Fire is 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. The Knife in the Fire is the first title in the Ruijan rannalla/Songs from the Arctic Ocean series, about Finnish Kvens and the landscape they live in. Brita Caisa was the great-great-grandmother of author Ingeborg Arvola. Arvola’s writing evokes the smell of blood after slaughtering reindeer, the taste of cloudberries, the feeling of coldness from the snow and heat from the fire.WINNER OF THE BRAGE PRIZE FOR BEST WORK OF FICTION 2022NOMINATED TO NORDIC COUNCIL LITERATURE PRIZE 2023NOMINATED FOR THE BOOKSELLER'S AWARD 2022NOMINATED FOR THE CRITIC'S AWARD 2022NOMINATED FOR THE YOUTH CRITIC'S AWARD 2022The Knife in the Fire is a magnificent epic tale by Ingeborg Arvola. A fascinating and riveting read, with an ending promising for a future continuation. And yes, the publisher promises that there will be a trilogy. ******VG A dramatic, poetic and steamy novel sets the bar high [M]ore than anything, it's the forbidden attraction and love between Brita Caisa and the married Askan Mikko that gives the story its force. It's been long since bodies and desire have been portrayed so nakedly and simply put, sexy, in a Norwegian book! A sensuous, realistic and very poetic novel.KLASSEKAMPENThis really is an absolute treat of a novel. *****ALTAPOSTENJuicy sex and unbridled desire... Bestseller-potential. ... a riveting novel about love, work and superstition. ... historically interesting. ... can be read in one lustful rush. *****DAGBLADET There is much to like about this novel, dealing with an less communicated part of the Norwegian, Sami and Kven history. The writing is excellent, the story is exciting and dramatic, the descriptions of the landscape are beautiful, and the character descriptions are realistic. *****AFTENPOSTENMost exciting is the descriptions of the love between Brita Caisa and the married farmer Mikko, with intensely sensual erotic writing as a result. Together they are greater than his bible and triumphing the judgement by society. STAVANGER AFTENBLADForbidden love, boiling arctic fishing and warm hands. Ingeborg Arvola's novel set in Northern Norway has everything required to become a bestseller. ... lovesickness this hot – and equally steamy lovemaking – I have not encountered in a Norwegian novel in quite some time.NRK.NO Oh my, The Knife in the Fire is a good book ... Human and nature really melt together when Brita and Mikko are alone (without clothes) in the dead of night. And here Arvola writes so intensely and powerfully that the reading glasses fog up to ... All in all, Arvola writes really, really well. Insanely well, in fact. Like a dream you didn't know you were walking around with.BERLINGSKE (DENMARK), five/six stars A fascinating novel about the problems of cohabitation among nomads in Lapland. POLITIKEN (DENMARK) Arvola writes a bygone world out of oblivion, a Scandinavian Wild West where life was hard and death quick. It is not difficult to understand why 'The Knife in the Fire' has received so much praise. In the novel there is a hard-to-define energy that inspires confidence in art as well as life. It radiates not only from the exceptional character of the protagonist but also from the very language of the book.GOTHENBURG POST (SWEDEN) It is not difficult to understand that Arvola was awarded the Brage Prize, Norway's highest literary award, for this novel. It is a fascinating portrait of people's lives in an area during a time rarely described in literature.VI LÄSER (SWEDEN) I am totally blown away by the power of the portrayal and without a doubt name this one of the greatest reading experiences of 2024, even though the year is only a few weeks old! ... [U]nforgettable and impressive. Ingeborg Arvola received the 2022 Norwegian Brage Award for the masterpiece. An excellent choice!ALINGSÅS NEWSPAPER (SWEDEN) It is a beautiful book with a poetic, soaring language ... a both painful and life-giving experience.SYDSVENSKAN (SWEDEN) It is with great empathy that Ingeborg Arvola puts Brita Caisa and her sons on a pair of skis and sends them out in search of a new life... I salute Marianne Mattsson, who must have struggled with the translation of a prose that wanted to maintain a linguistic tradition, where, for example, the same person can have three different names.AFTONBLADET (SWEDEN) Besides the figure of Brita Caisa Seipajærvi, who both fascinates and frustrates, it is the insight into a world that is new to me that is the biggest takeaway from 'The Knife in the Fire'. The northern Norwegian Finnmark, which I have never visited in reality, and neither can I remember travelling there via literature’s travel agency. Ingeborg Arvola succeeds in portraying both the magnificent and the challenging life that characterizes the place. The story teems like the cod in the sea off the coast.GEFLE NEWSPAPER (SWEDEN) Arvola creates a strong presence with her intense snapshots of work and togetherness with people living in the grip of nature and chance. Poetry flows through the brutal narrative while dreams turn to dust and Brita and Mikko walk towards the abyss. But the last word about them has not been said. A trilogy is promised. As a reader, you are hooked. You want to know how it goes for these tightly drawn people, drawn into a vortex of emotions and events.VÄSTERBOTTENS-KURIREN (SWEDEN) ... a captivating tale of Finns, Sámi, and Norwegians in the wilds of Finnmark – spiced with an Arctic love story.Helsingin Sanomat (Finland)

Coco-Banana and the Fart Soda

Rolf Magne G. Andersen

Coco-Banana and the Fart Soda is the third book in a series. In this book, it is Grandad Banana’s birthday, and Coco-Banana and the family are going to his party. But Coco-Banana is dreading it, because it’s always really boring when the old bananas just sit around talking about grown-up things. He decides to inject some life into the party by inventing fart soda. But what will the serious Grandad Banana have to say when the grown-up conversation is drowned out by fart sounds? Victoria Hamre’s illustrations are like something straight from an animated film.

Coco-Banana and the Silly Machine

Rolf Magne G. Andersen

Pea lives next door to Coco-Banana. Suddenly one day her goldfish dies, and she becomes very upset. Luckily Coco-Banana knows how to help. He hurries into his inventor workshop and invents a Silly Machine to make her happy again. But will it work?

Confirmation

Eivind Buene

How can you be a good dad when you only ever see your daughter for a few days at a time? Is it possible to put your differences aside and come together as a family again when your daughter is getting confirmed and a big party is being thrown in her honour? It’s late summer, and Endre is alone at the cabin with the boat. Long mornings tripping out to the mouth of the fjord, quiet days living as he pleases. He knows he’ll soon have to return to the city, to the flat in Grønland, to work—and for Emma’s confirmation. Years have passed since he and Emma’s mother split up. Have they co-parented well enough over the years? Have they managed to give their daughter, Emma, a good life? Can Endre say that he’s done his best as a part-time father? And what awaits Endre now that his daughter is on the cusp of adulthood and soon to start making her own way in life? Confirmation is raw, tender and exploratory.

The Crow Man

Alf Marius Opsahl

Fifteen years ago, a crow landed in Espen Sletteberg’s lap. He and the crow, Hafez, have lived together ever since. From time immemorial, crows have been dogged by myth, which pretty much always deal in death and decay. But for Sletteberg, this is a matter of life and death. So what is it really like living with a crow? This is the first question DN journalist Alf Marius Opsahl poses in his encounter with Espen the Crow Man.

Culture Wars

Carline Tromp

Culture Wars is a book about the extreme right, how their radical views have been normalized, straight forward and (in some groups) cool, spreading their message with the help of new tech and using strategies that partially have their source on the political left side. This is a book about word and action; trolling and anti-feminists, key board warriors and terrorists; about new and old media, political (un-) correctness and waging a cultural ward using new tools; about racist frogs, Marxist ghosts and stylish neo-Nazis. Even though the content of this book is a frightening read, Tromp´s thorough review has an unexpected calming effect. She gives us an overview of the chaotic jumble of networks and ideas that forms the extreme right. Culture Wars will stand as a reference work on the field.

The Art of Reading Body Language

Vidar Hansen / Siri Lill Mannes

Vidar Hansen er tidligere politimann og etterforsker, og omtales som Norges svar på Sherlock Holmes. De kriminelle nektet avhør med ham fordi de mente han kunne lese tanker, han har også fått Politiprisen for å ha pågrepet flest kriminelle i Norge. Han har en forbløffende evne til å tyde menneskers kroppsspråk og ubevisste signaler. Her forteller han fascinerende historier om hvordan kroppsspråket røper oss, som hvordan han vet hvem som kaster en flaske mot politibilen uten å ha sett hvem som gjorde det, hvordan han avslører løgn eller hva politikere og andre kjente personer forteller med kroppsspråket. Kroppsspråk har endret både sportsresultater, politikk og historiens gang. Få mennesker er bevisst på sitt eget kroppsspråk, og enda færre klarer å styre det. Kroppsholdninger, bevegelser, stemmebruk og ansiktsuttrykk avslører oss. Visste du for eksempel at entusiastisk kroppsspråk kan bidra til suksess? Jo tydeligere du uttrykker begeistring og glede, jo mer smitter det over på andre. Med denne boka kan du forstå andre bedre og forbedre din egen kommunikasjon.

Woman, missing

Didrik Morits Hallstrøm

Håvard lives a quiet life in a small village on the west coast of Norway. Everything changes when Susanne, a bubbly girl from Oslo, moves into the house next door with her boyfriend. During a few warm summer months Håvard and Susanne begin an intense and secret relationship. A relationship that ends when Susanne suddenly vanishes in the mountain. Håvard doesn’t give up hope about finding her. Susanne must be out there somewhere. No one just disappears. Woman, Missing is something as rare as a tender and poetic suspense novel.

The Women’s City

Marta Breen / Helene Uri / Hilde Østby

Oslo is a city in flux. In the last decade alone, a number of new areas, districts and landmarks have appeared. But one thing seems to persist: male dominance. There are still about seven times more men than women who have had a street named after them in the capital, and most busts and statues are of men. Everyone needs to feel represented in public and to be made aware of pioneers and role models in whom they can recognise themselves. In this feminist guide, you can learn about the women who have already had streets named after them.

Women Philosophers in the Long Nineteenth Century

Are there women in nineteenth-century philosophy? By all means! This anthology presents the works of nine women philosophers in the tradition from romanticism to phenomenology. The collection demonstrates their central place within movements such as German Idealism, socialism, Marxism, and philosophy of experience. It presents excerpts from central works by Germaine de Staël, Karoline von Günderrode, Bettina Brentano von Arnim, Hedwig Dohm, Clara Zetkin, Lou Andreas Salomé, Rosa Luxemburg, Edith Stein, and Gerda Walther. In a clear and engaging style, these philosophers address questions such as: What is truth? What is a human self? How should the human self relate to non-human nature? How should it relate to itself? How can we best think about gender and identity? What are the conditions for community? Across the contributions, we encounter a wish to philosophize beyond the boundaries of academia, narrowly construed. The editors’ introduction offers a clear overview of women’s place and position in nineteenth-century philosophy and presents each of the nine philosophers with an eye to their historical importance as well as contemporary relevance. These are the philosophers we meet in this volume: Germaine de StaëlKaroline von GünderrodeBettina Brentano von ArnimHedwig DohmClara ZetkinLou SaloméRosa LuxemburgEdith SteinGerda Walther Published in the UK by Oxford University Press. The book is translated into Norwegian as part of the Thorleif Dahl Cultural Library. Brightly Shining WomenWho would have believed that an anthology on dead female philosophers would be one of last year’s best non-fiction publications?AFTENPOSTEN Kristin Gjesdal and Dalia Nassar have written much about women philosophers. Read their essay 'A rescue mission on behalf of women philosophers' here.

White, Norwegian man

Brynjulf Jung Tjønn

what do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a white, Norwegian man White, Norwegian Man is a touching and important book about a subject many experience every day – namely racism. In this poetry collection the author Brynjulf Jung Tjønn depicts his own experiences of racism. Brynjulf Jung Tjønn was adopted from South Korea to Norway as a child and has always noticed that he looks different, as he puts it himself. With the pandemic – and the awareness around racism and Asian hate – he got new and painful perspectives about his own background and upbringing. White, Norwegian Man is about Norway and the racism many ignore, both the hidden type and the visible one. And not to mention the lonely human who hopes for understanding and finding somewhere to feel at home.WINNER OF THE CRITIC'S AWARD 2022NOMINATED TO THE YOUTH CRITIC'S AWARD 2022NORLA SELECTED TITLE SPRING 2023 ‘What a clenched fist of a book this is! .... Among the most powerful things I’ve read. Everyone should read it.’VG, six/six stars‘A gripping poetry collection about racism. ... a tragic seriousness, often wrapped in witty turns of phrase. ... I would recommend it to any young adult and up, but also for use in anti-racist work and in classrooms.’FRAMTIDA, six/six stars ‘Poetic protest against racism. ... one poem in particular is so compelling and gripping I think it will remain forever in Norwegian literature ... a wistful, vital and necessary contribution to contemporary literature.’AFTENPOSTEN 'Brynjulf Jung Tjønn's poems about the experience of adoption breathes of life.'KLASSEKAMPEN 'It's been a while since I've read something as brutally vulnerable and poetically probing as this. [...] really, when I think about it, these poems should be read by absolutely everyone.'NRK.NO