On the surface, Daniel has a well-functioning family life. With his partner Martin, he takes care of three kids, Kai, Jon, and Liva. Daniel wants to be a good father — but when he can’t sleep, he drinks himself into a stupor.

Henriette, the children’s biological mother and Daniel’s soulmate, is only sporadically present. When they were younger, she and Daniel were inseparable, partying and taking every drug they could get their hands on. But while Henriette has been consumed by
addiction, Daniel lives a cushy middle-class life.

The Dragon is a powerful and captivating novel about struggling to cope with the flatness of everyday life, addiction and destruction, and the yearning to get high.