“Haavardsholm draws up a mother-son relationship nourished by love, bitterness and dark secrets … This is literary craft of the finest calibre … In the genre of autobiographical fiction, Espen Haavardsholm’s novels place themselves among the best, and this novel in particular shows that characteristics and experiences from your own life can be transformed into literature of universal significance”
Dagsavisen

“Haavardsholm has written a fine portrait of a woman and an epoch … The book is engaging and interesting, we are presented captivating images of Norway’s past through several decades … But more than this, the reader is gripped by small, everyday details that make Katrin both relevant and plausible .. The author has succeeded in portraying Katrin as a three-dimensional character, and both from within and without”
Dag og Tid

“Powerful and personal … a successful attempt to come to terms with a time and a family, childhood which was difficult, at the same time as the author has kept his admiration for his mother and what she tried to accomplish in life”
Fædrelandsvennen

“This fascinating novel shows us an almost ninety year long woman’s life in Norway. It portrays a female pioneer who chooses an academic and independent profession, without forsaking family and children. But above all it shows the great costs of such a life”
Klassekampen

“A bitter, loving portrait of the author’s own mother. The 84-year old Katrin Li is probably one of this year’s most interesting literary characters … Haavardsholm succeeds in letting personal and nation history blend seamlessly”
Aftenposten