“[Aanestad] is a writer you recognize after just a few words. The terse, bare, almost mystical language, which despite its apparent simplicity, is so charged. Who is to be saved? … Since 2006, Ingrid Z. Aanestad has positioned herself as a truly unique voice in contemporary Norwegian literature. One of the most prominent features is how her novels consistently stimulate the entire sensory apparatus. Entering her texts is like stepping into a master chef’s kitchen while the preparation is ongoing. The reader can (and will!) smell, feel, taste… In a way that only Ingrid Z. Aanestad can achieve, the novel is quiet while everything happens. It is small while being large. It is explosive even when a young woman quietly makes herself a small cup of coffee.”
Hanne Kristine Wolden, Klassekampen

“Impressive [..] a small work of art that explores the beauty and art … here she impresses again… it is so nice to read about the interplay, but perhaps also the tiny tension, between Sofia and Ida … ‘Ida in Italy’ is a little gem of a coming-of-age novel. 114 pages is just perfect… The novel is very well thought out, almost down to the smallest detail.”
5/6 stars
Mai Lene Fløysvik Hæåk, Stavanger Aftenblad

“The way [Ida in Italy] creates connections between sculpture, the female body, and the self is beautiful and unsettling. … Aanestad’s literary signature is not found in the plot, but in simple, fascinatingly effective descriptions of people and surroundings. Using a metaphor from photography, one could say the author works impressively dedicated with the framing. Almost every sentence in the book stimulates the reader’s senses.”
Anna Serafima S. Kvam, Morgenbladet