“Mona Høvring brings all her distinctive qualities to bear in her new book … a colourful, energetic narrative that begins with a three-generation family history set in Western Norway … Perhaps she now writes in an even more exuberant, cheeky and boisterous style, and is even more poetic, intense, poignant and despairing … Høvring seems to master most registers.”
Janneken Øverland, Klassekampen

“Mona Høvring is a rare flower in the literary garden. This autumn she is more in bloom and boundary-pushing than ever … Høvring captivates her readers with the strangest, most playful and most surprising statements … Amidst the sadness and grief, this author serves up words and phrases that illuminate existence, or introduce a dark, burlesque humour … a particularly thoughtful and skilful piece of writing about the fragility and strength of life. This is a novel that throws open the doors to the wonder that is life, for better or worse, clad in the garb of a storyteller at the height of her literary powers.”
Turid Larsen, Dagsavisen

“Mona Høvring’s astonishing prose shakes the very core of language itself. I love Mona Høvring’s wordcraft! Linguistically speaking, she holds nothing back, both in her choice of form (refreshingly radical Bokmål!) and in metaphors that dance and undulate down the pages. In joyful, original universes, she lets a thousand verbal blossoms bloom … One must read with close attention to keep up. But I like it. It’s a text free from conventions, one that opens up, that shows tolerance and generosity of spirit. And it’s probably about as far removed from an AI-generated text as one can get these days”
Hilde Vesaas, Dag og Tid

“It’s as if Høvring forces us to see that both people and nature have multiple sides, many layers. I like the insistence that nothing is black and white. I also like that Mona Høvring is so funny in her description of a turbulent and somewhat unsatisfying life … The author plays with clichéd perceptions of the world and also makes readers a little less self-assured. Yes, Mona Høvring breaks free from the predictable. As a reader, you must prepare yourself for a constant stream of ‘aha’ moments when encountering her writing… Høvring is an unpredictable author who, through her sensuous prose, makes the world richer, stranger… Like this year’s Nobel Prize winner Anne Carson, Mona Høvring is a writer who defies categorisation. With an exploratory and unorthodox language, she juggles both genres and stylistic levels, often within a single work.”
5/6 stars
Anne Cathrine Straume, NRK