If you tune in to the right frequency, it’s possible to discover a city populated by women. Women who have mastered the art of socializing in careful and subtle ways to defend themselves.

Liv has come to Oslo with expectations of connecting with people. She throws herself into one intense friendship after another, hoping to find the answers to who she is and who she can be for others. But in all the meetings, in all the friendships, something simmers that she can’t explain. Why does she keep ending up in tangled relationships she can’t find a way out of? In order to fit in, she decides to hide her discomfort and think of herself as a blank sheet for others to color.

A Gift and a Wound is a keenly observed exploration of social dynamics, a luminous and insightful novel about friendship and gender, escape, and the quest for community.