Brightly Shining

 

Brightly Shining / Ingvild Rishoi
trans. from the Norwegian by Caroline Waight
NY: Grove, 2024, c2021.
192 p.

This is another beautiful Christmas book, physically, with a gorgeous cover. But don't let it fool you; this isn't a book for happy Christmas vibes. It's a melancholy, dark read about two young sisters and their alcoholic father. 

Inspired by The Little Match Girl, you can guess that this won't be a cheery tale. Ronja is 10, and she's telling the tale from her viewpoint. Her older sister Melissa, 16, is her rock, and the person who holds their home together. Their mother is dead and their father is an alcoholic - he is great when he's dry, but that is so infrequent as to be another dream. 

Ronja is friends with her school's caretaker, who gives her a lead for a job for her dad, selling Christmas trees. He takes it and all is well, until he falls into drink again. Then Melissa begs, and takes over his tree-selling position to keep the family going. Ronja doesn't like being far from Melissa so starts hanging out at the tree lot after school. But the owner isn't too keen on that. 

In a happy Christmas tale, their father would quit drinking in a Christmas miracle and all would be glorious. But that doesn't happen here. Melissa and Ronja have to make their own decisions and take their own path. The ending is not entirely conclusive; many reviews online say that it's an open ending. I feel it is pretty dark if you take the inspiration into account, and am not sure what I think about the structure of the book if my interpretation is correct. It's a hard read, heartbreaking with moments of light and joy amidst the overall depressing story. I liked it but found it hard going, especially the ending. 

Adventures with Waffles

 

Adventures with Waffles / Maria Parr
trans. from the Norwegian by Guy Puzey
Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2015, c2005.
232 p.

I found this delightful children's book from Norway in my library's e-collection so gave it a try. It is the first in a series, and apparently quite a popular series in its original language. I thought it was a very satisfying read -- interesting characters (both children and adults), a fascinating setting and lots of character development to engage readers. 

Trille lives with his family on an island in Norway. Lena is his neighbour and best friend, although she is so full of energy and charisma in comparison to Trille that he secretly worries that she doesn't consider him her best friend in return. The two of them have a year of adventures, from simple ones to ones that result in concussions. They have close relationships with Trille's parents, his Grandpa who lives with them, and Auntie Granny who lives nearby and makes the best waffles. And Lena decides she needs to find a husband for her single mom, another adventure for the two of them. 

The story weaves together hilarity and heart, also including more serious moments and experiences of grief. It is wholly "good" somehow, with characters who have integrity and character. It feels like a contemporary middle grade inspirational story (there is talk about Christianity) with a pinch of Pippi Longstocking. It made me laugh and it made me choke up. I really loved it. There is a second volume now available, too, so I think that's up when I need another feel-good read. 

Will & Testament

Will and Testament / Vigdis Hjorth
translated from the Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund
Ashland, OR: Blackstone Audio, 2019, c2016

After enjoying Long Live the Post Horn! by this author, I decided to listen to this one via my library. It's quite different from that first read, though. While the style is similar and the essential loneliness of the main character is repeated, this book is much more raw and also inconclusive. There is no happy ending here. 

Bergljot is the second daughter in a family of four. She is a theatre critic and writer, and is herself the mother of children and grandchildren. But she is also caught up in her relationship to her siblings and her parents; as the story begins, she has been estranged from most of her family (particularly her parents) for 23 years. But the two youngest daughters have just been given an early inheritance of two cabins on an island, cutting Bergljot and her older brother out. He is enraged, and this disagreement brings her back into communication with her siblings. 

But as the story progresses, we learn why it is that Bergljot has severed ties with her family. When she was a child, she was sexually abused by her father, and only remembered it in her 30s. At that point she spoke to her mother and sisters about it, but in the end they don't believe her, demanding proof for something, that as she notes, can not be proved. 

It's this behaviour, the disbelief and expectation that even if it was true she should get over it, that wounds her so much. She's not being seen in her entirety, not welcome in the family fold unless she plays along with the way all the others want things to work -- smoothly, untroubled. And that's not going to happen.

The story unfolds in circular patterns. Bergljot goes over and over her experience, repeating it to herself, parsing the reactions of her siblings, trying to see moments in her childhood that will 'prove' it, even to herself. Hjorth's repetitive style reflects the questioning, the agony, that Bergljot puts herself through. Even her boyfriend is getting tired of her ruminating. It's only her artist friend Clara who supports her fully, and is always encouraging her to speak up and not give in to any pressure. Her children, now adults, do what they can, including choosing not to see their grandparents either. 

But then her father dies suddenly, and all the things that she'd hoped might come out then do not. Her family still won't hear of it, and Bergljot realizes that just like she was told in a support group years before, those who confront their family usually lose their families. 

This was a hard book to experience. The events of the story, of course, but also being inside Bergljot's emotional maelstrom for so long. This really highlights the interior experience of a child of abuse, even into her own late middle age. It ends with a faint sense that things might get better for the next generations, even if Bergljot has had to realize that her mother and sisters won't give her the support and closure she needs. It's tough to read but really powerful, and will resonate with some readers, although it's not one to read if you are currently experiencing emotional trauma. Apparently this book caused quite a lot of controversy in Norway when it was first published, despite the author saying that it wasn't autobiographical. But this subject matter really does cause discomfort and fear for many, and that's partly what she was engaging with in this novel. 
 

Long Live the Post Horn!

Long Live the Post Horn! / Vigdis Hjorth
trans. from the Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund
Brooklyn, NY: Verso Fiction, 2020, c2012 p.
208 p.

I picked up this smallish novel at a book sale because it had been on my list for a while -- including the post office in a novel caught my interest originally! And it really does incorporate the post office, but not in an epistolary way, or any kind of twee lost letter plot. It's about local workers fighting back against an EU postal directive that will cut good jobs, reduce services and lower the quality of life for postal workers. 

And it's also about our main character Ellinor, a PR specialist who takes over this job when one of the partners in her agency dies suddenly. She's strongly affected by the authenticity of the workers she encounters and their clear honest voices; she herself is struggling with feeling disaffected, churning out promos for supermarkets and the like. 

She has a sister, and a boyfriend with a son, but somehow doesn't feel tethered to her life. She's going through the motions, with work, with her romantic relationship, even with her family. But something about the fight to maintain the independence and value of the Norwegian postal system shakes her up. The honest fight for something of value, for something that people believe in, that is just the right thing to do, gives her a sense of meaning, connects her to her society in a wider sense and so allows her to break through the numbness in her own life. 

It's a strange novel in a way, with an unusual subject and spare & a little repetitive in its style, but it suits the story. And it's a story that isn't ironically looking at capitalism or unions -- it's honestly struggling with how to live as a society, how to create equity. And as Ellinor gets involved in this kind of activism, she improves her own life too. 

I really liked this one -- looking at loneliness, isolation and a search for meaning, it also gives uplift in the conclusion, which I found satisfying.