The Danish response to Nazi Germany before and during World War II
forms the backdrop for this coming-of-age novel - first published
in 1996 in Norway - that covers 13 years in the life of a young
girl.The unnamed narrator and her adored older brother Jesper grow
up in a rural Danish village with their stern but deeply loving
father Magnus, a struggling humpbacked carpenter, and their
musical, fanatically religious mother Marie. In 1934 Magnus takes
the family on a short beachside vacation that goes awry but that
plants the idea of travel in the narrator's head. She begins to
dream quixotically of escaping to Siberia, of all places; Jesper,
more understandably, fantasizes about Morocco. Then the children's
grandfather hangs himself. They are told that Magnus chose to leave
their wealthy grandfather's farm for town life. In fact, Magnus was
forced off the farm and now the old man has bequeathed him nothing.
Magnus's carpentry shop fails, and Marie begins to run a dairy the
family must live above, but in a case of poetic justice, hoof and
mouth disease eventually makes the farm worthless. While in middle
school, the narrator shares her first kiss with Ruben, a Jewish
boy. Jesper, now a printer's apprentice with a wicked sense of
humor, becomes a socialist. He dreams of fighting in Spain although
he's still too young. When the Germans arrive in Denmark, most of
the narrator's friends and family join the resistance. Ironically,
Jesper fights a German soldier while the narrator saves one from
drowning. The Gestapo takes control of the town. Jesper sneaks into
Sweden with Ruben's family. By 1947, the narrator is pregnant and
living in Norway. She has not seen Jesper, who somehow made it to
Morocco, for four years. She returns home expecting a reunion that
never happens.A spare, lyrical novel from Norwegian author
Petterson (Out Stealing Horses, 2007, etc.) that possesses
historical breadth and a remarkable sense of immediacy. (Kirkus
Reviews)
In the bitter cold of Danish Jutland, where the sea freezes over
and the Nazis have yet to invade, a young girl dreams of one day
going on a great journey to Siberia, while her beloved brother
Jesper yearns for the warmer climes of Morocco. Their home, with a
pious mother who sings hymns all day and a silent father, is as
cold as their surroundings. But the unshakeable bond between
brother and sister creates a vital warmth which glows in spite of
the chill and the dark clouds that threaten to overtake their
dreams.
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