“Brilliant, self-confident and with an uncompromising attitude to every cliché, this literary debut doen’t show us a world that is whole and unharmed, but the angles and edges of human relationships”
SWR2, German

“What makes the greatest impression in Line Madsen Simenstad’s stories is the silence. You feel that not only do you grasp the characters’ surroundings – a room, a car, a street in winter – with your mind’s eye, but that you can hear precisely what’s going on. Tender images, events that make an impression and arent’ forgotten”
Köln Stadt-Anzeiger, Germany

“There’s constantly something at stake. From almost the very first line, the texts start building up an alarming tension … There is no whole and unharmed world, but there is a deep empathy with the characters and their lack of stability. They try to talk to each other, and sometimes they feel that they understand each other a bit, but when ultimately, it’s what a therapist tells Agnes that counts: “You can never know what other people feel”
Literaturkritik.de, Germany

“When the final page is turned, it’s the tiny, carefully construed details in the complex interaction between people which leave their strongest mark … In all the stories, Simenstad holds back information to great effect … It’s interesting to note how the author manages to show how trivial, human relations can be both very simple and deeply involving”
Universitas

“Concise stories that invite the reader to use her imagination … Simenstad has written a good book, with stories that have something claustropbic about them, you see the events from withing”
Dag og Tid

“Accurate stories about how difficult it can be to relate to both one’s own and others’ feeling of being alone … The scenes in these stories are well selected and clearly conceived, managing to give a precise portrait of human vulnerability, without become sentimental or quirky”
Vårt Land