The second volume in Helga Flatland’s beloved and highly successful trilogy about a Norwegian small town coming to terms with the loss of three of it’s young men.
Julie has lost her brother. Tarjei died in Afganistan, and so did Kristian and Trygve. They grew up together. Tarjei’s death leads to the dissolution of the family. Her parents can’t handle their son’s death, nor keep up with the farm work. Paradoxically, this becomes Julie’s great chance to achieve her dreams. She has always wanted to take over the farm, and her new effort is perhaps just as much a mark of her own ambitions, as it is a sign of empathy and duty.
Julie is one of three narrators in the novel. The very depressed neighbor boy, Sigurd, who was in love with Trygve, carries another part of the narration. The third, Julie’s estranged boyfriend, Mats, brings the outsider’s perspective to the story.
Praise for EVERYONE WANTS TO GO HOME. NO ONE WANT TO GO BACK:
“The fact that this book is an easy read may sound like a contradiction, when you bear in mind the serious topic. But Flatland’s language is concise and descriptive, and the reader is efficiently drawn into the story. You understand. You follow.”
(Vårt Land)
“Flatland explores with an eager eye and empathetic insight how what’s already non-comprehensible becomes even more difficult to understand in families where no one speaks to each other, and how impregnable anti-communicative fortresses can be – also for people who actually can speak, people used to putting things into words.”
(Dagsavisen)
“She manages to create suspense in her books, in a way that really makes us hooked; a linguistic craving that makes the transitions seem natural. This last one even more elegant than the debut.”
(Dagbladet)
