Four siblings. Two summer houses. One terrible secret.
When a dispute over her parents'will grows bitter,Bergljot is drawn back into the orbit of the family she fled twenty years before. Her mother and father have decided to leave two island summer houses to her sisters,disinheriting the two eldest siblings from the most meaningful part of the estate. To outsiders,it is a quarrel about property and favouritism. But Bergljot,who has borne a horrible secret since childhood,understands the gesture as something very different - a final attempt to suppress the truth and a cruel insult to the grievously injured.
Will and Testament is a lyrical meditation on trauma and memory,as well as a furious account of a woman's struggle to survive and be believed. Vigdis Hjorth's novel became a controversial literary sensation in Norway and has been translated into twenty languages.
Publisher: Verso BooksISBN: 9781788733106Number of pages: 336Weight: 282 gDimensions: 210 x 140 x 22 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'This was a novel that people could enjoy either as high literature or as a work of down-and-dirty revenge. The tabloids loved it as much as the broadsheets,and it became the bestselling novel of the year.'- Guardian
'Hjorth parcels out the secrets with a precision worthy of Ibsen,so that the level of suspense is maintained up to the very last of the 343 pages.'- Aftenposten
'Vigdis Hjorth's new novel is furious and wise,trembling and stringent. Will and Testament examines who owns the past. This is the novel in weaponised form.'- NRK
'The strength of the novel lies in Bergljot's convincing and continuing vulnerability,in her mixed feelings and her flaws... A clear-eyed and convincing story of a family's doomed attempt to reconcile and the limits of forgiveness.'- Kirkus
'In a ruthless yet patiently delivered work,Hjorth does something that few writers achieve: Will and Testament is both economical and overwhelming.'- Elsa Court,Financial Times
'Will and Testament is a compulsively readable novel,one that turns questions of shame into weapons against silence.'- Paris Review
'Hjorth's thoughtful,drily funny,and often devastating novel will leave a deep and lasting impression on readers.'- Publishers Weekly
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