IS MOTHER DEAD, by Vigdis Hjorth (Verso Books, $35)
Norwegian author Vigdis Hjorth is a master of portraying dysfunctional families. They pervade the pages of a number of her novels. In the bestselling Will and Testament, a family are torn apart by the gifting of island holiday homes to the two youngest siblings while the eldest are estranged and ultimately not believed when they recall childhood horrors.
The thrust of Hjorth’s latest novel is perfectly summed up in one of several blunt one-line chapters. “If we knew, if we understood when we were young how crucial childhood is, no one would ever dare have children.”
Our narrator is Johanna, a middle-aged artist who returns to live in Oslo where a gallery is preparing a retrospective of her paintings. She has lived in the US for 30 years, not even returning home to visit her dying father or attend his funeral. Having abandoned her legal career and lawyer husband to run away with an art teacher, she later wrote to her parents trying to explain her decisions.
この記事は New Zealand Listener の February 25-March 3 2023 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は New Zealand Listener の February 25-March 3 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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