Norma

Norma / Sofi Oksanen
Toronto: Anansi, 2017.
288 p.

When I first received this I thought, first, what a gorgeous cover this is! I mean, just look at it. And secondly, that it sounded quirky and more 'weird' than Oksanen's first book I read, Purge, which was dark and disturbing. I was right - this is much lighter in some ways, including a reliance on fabulism (see: magical hair) and a noirish mafia plot.

But it certainly includes some darker elements, nonetheless: suicide (murder?), international baby farms, an illicit trade in hair, and much more. And Oksanen's feminist sensibilities are still in full view, thankfully. The story explores this theme, in essence:

"....He who controls dreams, controls the world. He who controls hair, controls women. He who controls women's reproduction, controls men. He who keeps women satisfied, also satisfies men, and he who seduces people with fever dreams of hair and babies is their king."

Norma is all alone as the story starts: her mother has died (apparently a suicide) and Norma isn't sure what to do now. She and her mother were a unit - they lived together, they spent their time together and her mother protected her secret: Norma's hair grows continually and has to be cut daily. It is glorious magical thick blond hair, and Norma's mother has found a use for it that is now putting Norma at risk.

There's a connection to a criminal trafficking ring through Norma's father, who they left years before. As she starts investigating, the past comes right around again. The plot is a little convoluted, the characters are almost all only lightly sketched, and at times these things together make the read a little confusing. But as an adventure tale with magical and feminist overtones, I read this so quickly I didn't mind a little bit of missed connection in the plotline. 

Oksanen investigates women's physical autonomy both through Norma's role as the source of magical hair that is being sought for international hair trafficking circles, and through the Ukrainian baby farms that she finds out about via her mother's work prior to her death. The same criminal ring that her father is involved in is selling hair and babies, both: they force young women into pregnancy and then sell their babies abroad. Norma's mother has video proof of this, and so danger surrounds Norma.

I enjoyed the read. I found it odd, entertaining, unusual, and yet still with enough thought provoking content to be a solid read. The ending felt unsatisfactory -- not sure I'd trust the people who Norma ends up trusting, and I don't know if her deeper questions were really answered or not. But I still found it a good story, and engaging genre-style reading, which is not so frequently found in translation.