“Sucks the reader in! A Girl Child is an impressive debut from a talented writer (…) The portrait of the mother Ingrid touched me deeply. Her loss, and what it has done to her, is brilliantly portrayed with psychological insight (…) There is a nerve in the text that draws the reader in. Tilrem communicates in a way that strikes straight to the heart. (…) He writes insightfully – with a literary quality that this genre needs – and in a way that can hit you just as hard whether you are 20 or 60 years old. This is a writer that will be very exciting to follow.”
6/6 stars, Elin Brend Bjørhei, VG

“A great talent hits hard … Historical events from more than 200 years ago become frighteningly topical in Martin Tilrem’s gripping debut … His talent for building suspense is evident from the very first page. Just a few enigmatic lines are enough to put our vigilance on edge.”
Anne Merethe K. Prinos, Aftenposten

“Successful and uncomfortable (…) Tilrem succeeds in forging a clever plot with clear parallels to today (…) The euphoria of war in the book is reminiscent of the atmosphere before the First World War that Stefan Zweig describes in The World of Yesterday. With a penchant for details related to the use of weapons, Tilrem brings out the grotesqueness of putting weapons in the hands of young people (…) For a debut author, Tilrem has a good grasp of how narrative technique can be used. He creates a drama of fate along two time axes that comment on each other mutually.”
Astrid Fosvold, Vårt Land

“The young debutant Martin Tilrem (25) writes incredibly well! This is a brilliant historical novel that will make an impact (…) This is a powerful and convincing novel that deserves many readers”
6/6 stars, Jan Øvvind Helgesen, Nettavisen

“a dramatic and skillful first novel about a young Norwegian soldier in 1814. (…) Martin Tilrem writes with a subdued and sober old-fashionedness not usually associated with men of his age. (…) A skillful debut.”
Leif Bull, Dagens Næringsliv

“An impressive debut novel. Martin Tilrem is an obvious storytelling talent …He has an alert, visual eye and can depict a scene on both a micro and macro level. … the point of departure is original, there is punch and joy in the writing here – and a willingness to show today’s readers that trials from the past can probably hit, both suddenly and hard, including us right now as the war is almost on our own doorstep in the East.”
Anne Cathrine Straume, NRK

“While the average budding author often makes his or her debut with fairly plotless and narrow-minded books about the 2020s, Tilrem deserves a medal of merit in some kind of metal for his storytelling ambitions. He knows how to tell a story, and the charming – and ultimately tragic – tale of the threesome Aslak, Mattis and Frans works particularly well.”
Eirik Riis Mossefinn, Morgenbladet