Welcome to Litsy!

This novel portrays the damaging ripple effect of child sexual abuse among a family. Not that the novel is graphic, quite the opposite. Hjorth in fact circles & circles & circles around it before the MC (now an adult) actually lands on it. The roles each family member plays in the drama strikes me as painfully realistic.

There are odd places where sentences are repeated, the intent of which isn‘t clear.

When four adult siblings argue over an inheritance it forces conversation about the sexual abuse of the oldest daughter by her father. This is not a pleasant book to read, because of the topic and because it‘s repetitive and none of the characters are likable. But through the sister Astrid‘s reactions, who works in human rights, the idea of how damaging some of our accepted and “politically correct” language is to survivors is spot on.

My last #ALSpine read this month was definitely the heaviest. I had to stop in the middle for two days to catch my breath.

Bergljot endured sexual abuse at the hands of her father that her sisters did not. She separated herself from her family after undergoing therapy, but she gets drawn back into their orbit when there is a dispute about inheritance after his death. Hjorth‘s writing is realistic and well informed by current trauma theories.

I see this called ‘controversial‘ everywhere it‘s referred to. I can see why, but I loved it. Perhaps because I listened on audio so I didn‘t feel bogged down in it. It‘s certainly very dark and very repetitive but I liked the structure, a very damaged person circling around the same memories in boring conversations about the same things. I loved the style, the psychology and the translation SO much. #scarathlon2022 #teamslaughter @Clwojick +6

Finished this today. The weather is gorgeous here today and it felt especially so, sitting on my deck reading this depressing story set in the snow and rain of Norway in January. There was so much in the book that was done well, but as others have said, it could have been shorter. Great writing and interesting asides about Bo and Klara, but I think it could've been edited a little more.

I‘m not sure how I feel about Will and Testament. I liked Hjorth‘s writing style but she repeats scenes or images, moments and dwells on descriptions and thoughts. That was too much for me. The first half was a pick and then I just wanted the book to end.

Part of my TBR pile. I'm starting the tagged book today.

My #FoodandLit read for this month was tough to get through since the main character utterly annoyed me. As a therapist, I felt bad thinking that. As a reader, I wanted to to yell at her. So glad to be done .... this book was too drawn out 🤦🏻‍♀️

https://www.lifeinnorway.net/norwegian-novels-to-read/

#foodandlit #Norway

Father's death and a dispute over family heritance resurface old family secrets. Why did one of the daughters become estranged from the rest of the family twenty years ago?
An excellent novel that speaks about an important topic.

Great narrative voice. Tricky family situations, secrets, tensions and memories collide in this fast first person novel! The reason why the family‘s relationships are strained is slowly revealed and keep you on the edge of your seat! The audiobook is excellent!!!

Hey everyone! The winners of the Best Translated Book Award 2020 will be announced this Wednesday 5/27. Anyone interested in doing a #buddyread of the winning novel? Use hashtag #BTBA2020 and tag me. If there‘s enough interest, I‘d like to expand this into reading the entire shortlist, which will be announced the same day...but we‘ll see :)

I nearly bailed early on as I found the characters complaining about not getting a fair share of an inheritance from their parents whiney and unsympathetic. I persevered and I‘m glad I did—it turned into an interesting exploration of family dynamics, but not enough to turn it into a full pick. Maybe because it‘s Norwegian it reminded me here and there of Knausgaard. #ReadingEurope2020 @BarbaraBB Norway

#readingeurope2020 Bergljot mostly broke contact w/ her family years ago, trying to overcome trauma she doesn‘t share w/her siblings.But when 2 family cabins are left to her sisters while her parents are still alive ,it has Bergljot & her brother wondering what happened to the plan to share the estate equally among the 4. Is it punishment & an attempt to suppress some long buried truths? When is dysfunction & hypocrisy the breaking point? #Norway

I‘m in! Thank You for hosting a great challenge! I have some titles in mind on my TBR,and I‘m glad there will be some searching to be done to find books representing some of the countries.My first 2, from Norway and Italy.
#ReadingEurope2020