Dankert Valden and Trygve Karlsson are real estate brokers. They have a commission – to sell a house in a small village in a remote part of Norway. The house is situated in the area where Valden grew up, and he hasn’t been there since he moved a few years back. Now, his father is dead, and their farm is up for sale. But Valden has other plans. Back in his home town, he bumps into his wife Hjørdis, who is now living with another man.

With great vigour and humour, Tormod Haugland has written a sterling novel that borrows features from the melodrama – about a homecoming that entails both a beginning and an end, and where almost anything can happen.