Days in the History of Silence

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From the acclaimed Nordic Council Literature Prize winner, a story that reveals the devastating effects of mistaking silence for peace and feeling shame for inevitable circumstances Eva and Simon have spent most of their adult lives together. He is a physician and she is a teacher, and they have three grown daughters and a comfortable home. Yet what binds them together isn’t only affection and solidarity but also the painful facts of their respective histories, which they keep hidden even from their own children. But after the abrupt dismissal of their housekeeper and Simon’s increasing withdrawal into himself, the past can no longer be repressed.Lindstrøm has crafted a masterpiece about the grave mistakes we make when we misjudge the legacy of war, common prejudices, and our own strategies of survival.From BooklistBy all accounts, Eva and Simon should be able to look back on their lives with very few regrets. Eva made a career for herself as a doting teacher, Simon became an accomplished physician, and they jointly raised three children while creating a warm and loving home. Now, with Simon’s health rapidly declining in his later years, many of Eva’s memories, long suppressed, begin to resurface. Between the chilling memory of a long-ago home intruder and the abrupt dismissal of a beloved housekeeper, Eva begins to wonder just how ideal her marriage really was and how many memories she and Simon have left to share. This deeply intimate character portrait dwells in the intersection of nostalgia, loss, and forgotten histories. The narrative is mainly episodic, allowing the reader glimpses into a marriage marred by depression and repression. Bruce’s translation allows Lindstrøm’s sparse and evocative prose to shine, giving equal weight to both highly dramatic and domestically mundane events. Fans of Anne Holt, Nicholas Mosley, and Max Frisch will savor Days in the History of Silence. --Stephanie Turza Review“This remarkable novel explores the theme of silence in many different forms—a children’s game, a refuge, a lie, a punishment, a solution—and shows its impact on those who long to be spoken to….The prose is simple and elegant, revealing an extraordinary talent*.” —Publishers Weekly “This deeply intimate character portrait dwells in the intersection of nostalgia, loss, and forgotten histories... Bruce’s translation allows Lindstrøm’s sparse and evocative prose to shine, giving equal weight to both highly dramatic and domestically mundane events. Fans of Anne Holt, Nicholas Mosley, and Max Frisch will savor Days in the History of Silence.”  —Booklist“In gentle, precise, and thoughtful prose Lindstrøm relates how a dramatic past slowly breaks into an elderly woman's life and consciousness.” —The Nordic Council* "[E]ngrossing. The layers of silence that are stacked so neatly within this narrative are skillfully and precisely constructed, so that peeling one back only releases another."* —Minneapolis Star Tribune* “A quiet and unnerving masterpiece.”* —Norway Times “Lindstrøm interweaves past and present in an intricate and gradually highly suggestive tale that makes use of a sober, simple language. In masterly fashion, she shows how remaining silent isolates the narrator Eva and her husband Simon from a sense of belonging they both actually long for…By means of a finely tuned, simple language [Lindstrøm]…expands out small everyday circles so that they become part of the large historical circle in which we all findourselves.*”* —Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature Judgment “An intimate and intense narrative about losing oneself through losing other people…. One of this year’s most memorable novels.” —Sindre Hovdenakk, Verdens Gang“In unobtrusive, elegant, and incisive prose, [Lindstrøm] has produced a drama of everyday life that insinuates itself under the reader’s skin.” —Turid Larsen, Dagsavisen “Stylish and clever. Merethe Lindstrøm is not only an outstanding, but also an intelligent stylist…This novel is one of the best she has written to date.” —Margunn Vikingstad, Dag Øg Tid "The simplicity of the language and the domesticity of the surroundings make it an immersing read...[Days in the History of Silence] will stay with you long after you put the book down..." —Bookslut* "Merethe Lindstrøm provides a strong philosophical tale as she makes a profound argument that the past never fully vanishes since the ghosts of yesteryear haunt the present." —*Genre Go Round Reviews "A fascinating novel..." —Hudson Valley News* "A very powerful novel, impressively done." —Complete Review "Remarkably beautiful...prose that lingers long after being read." —Calamus "[A] searing work of imagination." —The Free Lance-Star