by Pia Juul
A dog came wagging its tail and sniffed at my legs under the table. ‘Where did you come from?’ I said, trying to sound friendly, but then it was gone.
I gazed across to the other side of the fjord. Everything was green. Everything had come into leaf. Soon you would be able to buy strawberries over there. We had bought some last summer. Or Halland had. He brought them home and I cheered. He said they were from the other side. They smelled delicious and tasted of the childhood you didn’t enjoy but now longed for. Which place did he get them from? The water lapped between the rocks. I could hear some children further away. A happy sound.
‘Lasse?’ I reached back with my outstretched hand and a moment later the phone lay in my palm. I curled my fingers around it, gauging its weight. Then I threw it as far as I could. Out into the glittering fjord.
Quotations
Quotations in this book from works originally published in Danish, unless otherwise stated, have been translated into English by Martin Aitken. All other translations are cited in their respective bibliographic entries below.
p. 1 The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Claus, translated by Arnold J. Pomerans (Penguin Books, 1994)
p. 2 In the Flesh by Christa Wolf, translated from the German by John Barrett (David R. Godine Publisher, 2005)
p. 3 Thumbprint by Friedrich Glauser, translated from German by Mike Mitchell (Bitter Lemon Press, 2004)
p. 4 Af en retsmediciners bekendelser by Preben Geertinger (Munksgaard/Rosinante, 1998)
p. 5 Danmarkshistoriens hvornår skete det by Kai Petersen (Politiken, 1960)
p. 6 Hyrder by Peter Seeberg (Arena, 1970)
p. 7 Eftersøgningen og andre noveller by Peter Seeberg (Arena, 1962)
p. 8 Erotiske skildringer by Emil Aarestrup (Kristian Kongstad, 1916)
p. 9 The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler (Vintage, 1988)
p. 10 Vilhelms Vœrelse by Tove Ditlevsen (Gyldendal, 1975)
p. 11 Natmœndsfolk og Kjœltringer by H.P. Hansen (Gyldendal, 1921-1922)
p. 12 Paa rejse med H. C. Andersen. Dagbogsoptegnelser by William Bloch (Gyldendal, 1942)
p. 13 Skovveien by B.S. Ingemann, in Dans lyrik 1800-1873 by Christian Winther (Forlagsbureauet i Københaven, 1873)
p. 14 Elsie Lindtner by Karen Michaëlis, translated from the Danish by Beatrice Marshall, first published in Danish in 1912, English translation reprinted in 2009
p. 15 Four Plays by Eugène Ionesco, translated from the French by Donald M. Allen (Grove Press, 1982)
p. 16 The Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson (Knopf, 2001)
p. 17 The Devil Kissed Her by Kathy Watson (Bloomsbury, 2004)
p. 18 Rumpole and the Brave New World by John Mortimer. Unfinished manuscript. Published in The Guardian, 24th January 2009
p. 19 Jacob von Gunten by Robert Walser, translated from the German by Christopher Middleton (NYRB Classics, 1999)
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About the Author and Translator
AUTHOR
Pia Juul, born in 1962, claims her place as one of Denmark’s foremost literary authors. She has published five books of poetry, two short-story collections and two novels. The Murder of Halland was published in Danish in 2009 and in the same year won Denmark’s most important literary prize, Danske Banks Litteraturpris.
TRANSLATOR
Martin Aitken holds a PhD in Linguistics. He gave up his university tenure in 2008 to listen to The Fall and translate literature. His works include books by Janne Teller, Peter Høeg and Jussi Adler-Olsen. He lives in rural Denmark.
Copyright
First published in English in 2012
by Peirene Press, 17 Cheverton Road, London, N19 3BB
www.peirenepress.com
This ebook edition first published in 2012.
Originally published under the original Danish title as as Mordet på Halland by Tiderne Skrifter, 2009
Copyright © Pia Juul, 2009
This translation © Martin Aitken, 2012
This work has sponsored by the Danish Arts Council Committee for Literature.
The right of Pia Juul to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by th
e publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–1–9086700–5–2
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Designed by Sacha Davison-Lunt.