A father and his son live together in a flat in Oslo. Mother has moved out; father is dying from cancer. “My father came to Norway because of Circus Arnardo. It is strange to think that he would never have come, or met my mother, if it hadn’t been for that circus.” The son grew up in a circus wagon. As he had to attend school and they all had to live in a flat and be “normal”, life became more complicated, especially for his father. The son finally gets to know why his father left Poland, and what actually happened when his father hitchhiked to Norway to work for Circus Arnardo, where he met his mother.

A moving novel about the shared history of a father and his son.

Praise for Applause:

“Heidi Marie Kriznik has managed to write herself into the major league already with her first book. She has managed to breach the boundaries of a family-novel and to say something about being a human being and a stranger in Norwegian society. It is simply very well done”
NRK

“One of the strongest first novels I have ever read … it is a tale that is at the same time sad and warm, heartbreaking and beautiful, wonderfully balanced without ever getting sentimental. It is simply difficult not to be moved by this novel. For being a first novel, Applause is almost shockingly good”
Dagbladet

“Warm and tender account of the relationship between a son and his immigrant, never quite adapted father … underneath the text lies a sore empathy with the characters, a tenderness and warmth that never becomes sentimental. This is simply a very well-composed debut”
Aftenposten