Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month for October 2018
By Norway's bestselling novelist and the author of Norwegian Wood,a family story of epic scale.
Edvard grows up on a remote mountain farmstead in Norway with his taciturn grandfather,Sverre. The death of his parents,when he was three years old,has always been shrouded in mystery - he has never been told how or where it took place and has only a distant memory of his mother.
But he knows that the fate of his grandfather's brother,Einar,is somehow bound up with this mystery. One day a coffin is delivered for his grandfather long before his death - a meticulous,beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Perhaps Einar is not dead after all.
Edvard's desperate quest to unlock the family's tragic secrets takes him on a long journey - from Norway to the Shetlands,and to the battlefields of France - to the discovery of a very unusual inheritance.
A European literary superstar Lars Mytting made his name in the UK with the translation of his breakaway hit Norwegian Wood. He further confirmshis elegant skills as novelist in this perfectly-plotted tale of family conflict and the divisive toll of war.The Sixteen Trees of the Somme is about the love of wood and finding your own self,a beautifully intricate and moving tale that spans an entire century.
Translated from the Norwegian by Paul Russell Garrett
Publisher: Quercus PublishingISBN: 9780857056061Number of pages: 416Weight: 340 gDimensions: 196 x 128 x 32 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Mytting follows up Norwegian Wood with a mystery that fits together like a piece of fine marquetry'- Christian House,The Observer
'The Sixteen Trees of the Somme is so cleverly plotted,and it builds up such effortless dramatic momentum as it zeroes in on its conclusion'- Roger Cox,The Scotsman
'The tug of this book on the heart and mind is irresistible... And you will,I think,struggle to find a modern novel in which the emotional,imaginative lure of trees and wood is as powerful.'- Michael Duggan,The Catholic Herald
'Though the twists of discovery drive the plot,it is the intimacy with the natural world - as we might expect from the author of the phenomenally successful Norwegian Wood - that most compels us: potato-flowers,islets,storm petrels,walnut trees and walnut wood.'- Paul Binding,The Times Literary Supplement
'Mytting's book is as much a romantic historical thriller as it is a book of promise,a page-turner as it is a reflective journey into selfhood,history,life's meaning and individual moral responsibility'- Mika Provata-Carlone,Bookanista
Kommentar