“An immeasurably powerful portrait of a woman … Speculations take shape as threads in Olga’s mind. Connections are drawn between Martin’s disappearance and the local council leadership. This lends the novel the eerie undertones of crime fiction. Several passages in the book also resonate with the flair of a thriller writer, side by side with the richest descriptions of Buerdalen, this beautiful valley just outside Odda. The versatility of the literary jack-of-all-trades Frode Gryttens is particularly”
***** (5/6 stars), Joakim Tjøstheim, Dagbladet
“A love story featuring scandalous village gossip, reckless driving on narrow roads, loss and grief, but also hope, light and warmth … In Olga Buer, the author has created a fine portrait of a woman. With her on board, Frode Grytten showcases his full range of dry humour, scathing characterisations, taut, precise word choice and colourful language in the bedroom. Not to mention Grytten’s quite unique ability to capture the male species with great linguistic variety … As a passionate and vivid conveyor of love and desire, and of the deepest grief when tragedy strikes, Frode Grytten is at his very best in this novel. The very feat of conveying something as banal as love at first sight across a bar counter, without slipping into sentimentality, is achieved with understated finesse.”
Turid Larsen, Dagsavisen
“The epigraph reads: ‘The landscape is real, the characters are fictional.’ This also reflects the novel well. Odda exists, and Grytten knows how to bring the place to life. The same applies to the seasons, which create an enveloping atmosphere and allow the gravity of the situation – a man has gone missing, and the protagonist suspects foul play – to cast a thin veil over it all … The characters and the plot are well-crafted, and the humour rides in with its heroine slightly above the realm of realism. Perhaps it is this sort of story – however slightly Hollywood-esque in its treatment of its themes – that we need as the Robek list continues to grow and the gondolas stand ready with their Faustian ambitions?”
Emilie Johnson Godal, Klassekampen
