Synopses & Reviews
When Arvid Jansen comes-to one morning in the doorway of a bookstore in Oslo, Norway, his grief comes back to him in devastating flashes: His parents and his brothers are dead, he has lost touch with his wife and daughters, abandoned his career as a writer and bookseller. His old life is gone.
In the Wake is the story of Arvid's first steps toward resuming that life, of his gradual confrontation with everything he lost and ultimately with his own role in the disaster that killed his family.
Told with the insight and moral force of his countryman Knut Hamsun, In the Wake is the American debut of a treasured European writer.
Review
"This is as fine a portrayal of the course of heartache and renewal as any in recent memory." Booklist (Starred Review)
Synopsis
When Arvid Jansen comes-to one morning in the doorway of a bookstore in Oslo, Norway, his grief comes back to him in devastating flashes: His parents and his brothers are dead, he has lost touch with his wife and daughters, abandoned his career as a writer and bookseller. His old life is gone.
In the Wake is the story of Arvid's first steps toward resuming that life, of his gradual confrontation with everything he lost and ultimately with his own role in the disaster that killed his family.
Told with the insight and moral force of his countryman Knut Hamsun, In the Wake is the American debut of a treasured European writer.
About the Author
Per Petterson was a librarian and bookseller before publishing his first book in 1987. In the Wake is the first of his novels to be published in the U.S. Out Stealing Horses, his second novel, as published by Graywolf Press in June 2007 and became a surprise bestseller. He lives in Oslo, Norway.