“Brilliant entertainment! Crash is a real powerhouse of entertaining and exciting ingredients. Opium smoking and gay sex in the attic, betrayal and fraud involving staggering amounts of money. Guri Idsø Viken’s new novel Crash is brilliant entertainment based on real events (…) It is real entertainment. Without barbs, but with lots of energy and smart transitions (…) Viken proves to be an excellent writer. In flawless Nynorsk, she takes the time to depict people through their figures and manners. And she creates credible environments and portraits of the time using precise interiors and social forms. Even the erotic scenes are well done! “
6/6 stars, Sindre Hovdenakk, VG
“An uninhibited novel about the Arendal Crash. (…) dramatic and action-packed (…) Guri Idsø Viken (46) has done thorough research on the Herlofson family, the socio-economic conditions in Arendal in the 1880s, and of course Axel Herlofson’s financial misdeeds. At the same time, she knows how to use the novelist’s privilege, namely free and bold fiction. (…)Viken has a modern perspective on old times, and turns the flashlight on human behavior that was obscured by bourgeois propriety at the time the novel depicts. (…) All this drama is actually described with a suitably nuanced sense of ethical gray areas and mixed motives”
Leif Bull, Dagens Næringsliv
“A super scam story (…) It’s a very successful novel, from start to finish. There are delicious depictions of the lavish lives of the upper classes, interspersed with appropriate doses of sex, drugs and gambling. Love intrigues and friendships. Trust and betrayal. Risky projects that succeed – and even wilder projects that don’t. (…) The pull of this good historical novel comes from fine characterizations, exciting intrigues, and a smoldering sense that something disturbing is about to happen. I hope Guri Idsø Viken writes more historical novels. Few do it as well as this.”
Gerd Elin Stava Sandve, Dagsavisen
“Fascinating (…) the characters are treated with a kind of compassion and tenderness (…) I would certainly like to read more from this author”
5/6 stars, Maria Årolilja Rø, Adresseavisen
”A masterpiece”
6/6 stars, Sven Gjeruldsen, Tvedestrandsposten
“… a sensual and intimate story. (…) Guri Idsø Viken has written a book with momentum that vividly tells the region’s (Southern Norway’s) hidden, important history.”
Valerie Kubens, Fædrelandsvennen
