“A strong and sharp tribute to mother. An autobiographical novel that stands out in the crowd… When the mother dies, it is as if she ‘cannot find rest anywhere but in memories.’ The mother who read and told stories, sang Elvis and grandfather’s songs. Now she shall have a song. A love song that is poetic realism full of symbols.”
6/6 stars
Vigdis Moe Skarstein, Adresseavisen

“The sentences practically glow with love. The memory of the mother receives an artistic treatment of the most tender kind with this book… It is truly a song to mother that the author has written here, with passion and threads of sorrow… Olin manages to write both exaltedly and down-to-earth about family and the close things.”
Alf Kjetil Walgermo, Vårt Land

“A luminous memory book… The love for the parents and the love between the parents shines through the book, all enveloped and woven into the mighty nature of the Oldedalen valley in Nordfjord… Olin portrays a childhood filled with much song and gentle hands… it is delightful to read about so much kindness and love and understanding. There is nothing pompous or sentimental in this writing. Rather, it is the clarity, simplicity, and the fine flow of the sentences that are striking… As a reader, one becomes almost envious, at least deeply moved by all these loving words that flow on the lines of this little book.”
Turid Larsen, Dagsavisen

“Olin’s genealogical research is of the deepest kind… [Olin] makes very touching reflections on life with her parents, who ran the cooperative store in the village where Olin grew up. The bonds between generations are at the center. It is warm and heartfelt, especially about the mother, who seems to have been a sparring partner for her artist daughter from the time she wrote her first sentence… It is not just a song to mother that Olin has written, it is a song to the earth and the mountains and the glacier – which seem like different sides of the same coin to her.”
Helen Hovden Hareide, Klassekampen

“Song for Mother is wise in its straightforward tone and sharply chiseled prose, maturely written by someone who has written incessantly throughout an already long professional life. … has landscape descriptions and dramatic arcs worthy of a critically acclaimed, award-winning filmmaker.”
Maria Olerud, Morgenbladet

“Warms in the autumn chill… Olin is known for her intimate, personal films. She has a unique eye for the misfits, those who are a bit different, or who don’t quite manage life. She preserves this perspective in her first novel Song for Mother, a love letter to her parents and to the mighty nature that frames their lives… The mother passed her dreams on to her daughter, encouraged her early to write, and Olin writes as she creates images on the canvas, we can see it… The sentences are laconic, like the parents themselves. Warming.”
5/6 stars
Ellen Sofie Lauritsen, NRK