”The first one was on purpose, at least from the mother’s point of view. To everyone else he was a kid who slipped through an unfortunate hole in society’s control-net. The second was conceived because of the mother’s thoughtlessness and luck. But already as a foetus he was included in a great plan. The plan elevated his little life and gave it a glorious meaning, before it dragged him into degradation.”

With these words Kjersti Ericsson begins her story of two lives that could have been lived as described in the book. Hjalmar and Jørgen are both defined by the community of the “ normal”, and end up in an institution. The story of the two is fictional. At the same time it deals with the institutional system’s changing ideology and economy, from the 30s almost till today. Hjalmar and Jørgen represent “the others”. But the book does not only raise the question of what happens to those who are put in this position. It also asks what the relation “us – the others” do to us. Like this the story of Hjalmar and Jørgen becomes a part of a greater story, which is still to be finished.