The Witches of Vardø by Anya Bergman

 

Off the northern-most coast of Norway lies the small island of Vardø, site in the mid-seventeenth century of a notorious series of witch trials. Anya Bergman's novel brings us a fictional account of those times, seen from two points of view - that of wealthy Anna Rhodius, imprisoned in this remote fortress by her former lover, the King; and that of sixteen year ago fisherman's daughter, Ingeborg, whose mother is falsely accused of witchcraft. Ingeborg desperately wants to save her mother, and will go to any lengths to do so. Anna meanwhile is interested in protecting herself and negotiating a way to return to her former life. 

The numbers involved in the real trials were horrific (91 people executed over a period of years) but Bergman has reduced them to handful without losing any of the terror and helplessness that these women must have experienced. As is frequently the case, there's a trail of fear and misogyny behind the accusations - women denounced for 'seducing' married men, the local Sami people victimised for being 'different', anyone who vaguely steps beyond the rigid bounds of propriety being considered fair game. And the treatment of women in general, as totally subordinate to men, and threatened for voicing their own opinions, is unthinkable now.

Although I'd heard of many instances of witch-hunts, from Pendle to Salem, Scotland to Essex, I hadn't realised that the fervour for them had spread to Norway, apparently influenced by King James VI (Scotland) and I (England), and his writings on Daemonologie. Reading The Witches of Vardø led me off down a lot of wormholes, finding more about the historical events, and learning more about the remote landscape of its setting.

Manilla Press

The Looking-Glass Sisters by Gohril Gabrielsen

review by Maryom

Two middle-aged sisters live in an isolated house in the north of Norway; surrounded by open moorland, far from the nearest village, they live an almost solitary life. One,the narrator, has been handicapped almost all her life; the other, Ragna, has had to become her nurse. For years they've rubbed along together, not always amicably but reasonably so, the whole dynamic of their relationship changes when the unforeseen happens -  in her late forties, Ragna gets married. She now has someone else to care about, and her sister begins to lose the central part she'd played in Ragna's life. Ragna still has to care for her, but the main focus of her affection is her husband ....and the sisters' relationship begins to shift and warp.


I'd half-expected that the story-telling would alternate between the two sisters - giving opposing views of the situation - but it wasn't necessary. Although told throughout from the point of view of the invalid sister, my sympathies moved between the two. My automatic instinct was to side with the disabled sister, after all she's suffered many years of pain and is virtually imprisoned by her lack of mobility, but then, and even though the narrator is slanted against her, I began to empathise with the able-bodied Ragna. Since their parents died, Ragna has been sole carer for her sister, has presumably had to abandon dreams of a career or marriage to act as nurse, and is rarely appreciated for her troubles. Her sister meanwhile listens through walls, rummages through Ragna's belongings while she's out, and tries at times to be as much of a nuisance as possible! Some of her strategies would be hilarious, if the overall situation weren't so dark.

 It's not an easy 'cut and dried' book. Seeing events unfold from the perspective of only one of the 'players' is always suspect. Sometimes, cooped up in her room, the narrator invents scenarios, plays them out in her head to see what might happen - and sometimes the reader knows she's interpreted things wrongly, sometimes we can only guess.
Adding to the sisters' isolation is the landscape of northern Norway - endless expanses of moor and forest stretching to the horizon - and the extremes of weather. The ever-present sun of mid-summer contrasting with the total darkness of midwinter. Both hiding the natural division of day and night, but, whereas in winter the sisters huddle together, finding companionship in facing the elements together, in summer the constant glare is upsetting, disorienting, and works to separate the sisters,    .

 To my mind there were certain echoes of the Bette Davis/Joan Crawford film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane - two sisters forced into living together, one dependent on the other - but there's a lot less over the top drama and thriller-style suspense about it. It's a rather sad tale in the end. The narrator just wants things to carry on as they were, two sisters alone, meaning all the world to each other, but it's not possible.





translated from the Norwegian by John Irons

 Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Peirene Press
Genre - Adult Literary Fiction

The Human Flies by Hans Olav Lahlum

 review by Maryom

Oslo 1968 - Inspector Kolbjørn Kristiansen, aka K2, is called to a murder scene in a block of flats. The victim, Harald Olesen, was hero of the Resistance during World War 2 and an unremarkable MP after, so it's difficult to see who would have wished him dead and why. K2 thinks such a high-profile case could be the making of his career, but he soon discovers this isn't going to be a quick easy, open and shut case - and actually begins to wonder if it could be the breaking of his career instead. Fortunately he has help in the shape of Patricia, a young woman confined to a wheelchair following an accident, who, despite hardly ever venturing from home, has more insight into human nature and possible motives for murder than K2. Together they unravel the relationships between the flats' residents, turning up secrets from Olesen's past and a surplus of suspects to pick from.  

This is a classic murder mystery with a limited numbers of suspects, all of them appearing to have no reason to want the victim killed .... until the investigation turns up the skeletons lurking in their pasts - and then there's seemingly no one who wouldn't have wanted him dead!
There are a lot of nods to Agatha Christie classic murder mysteries - the seemingly 'closed' room, the surplus of witnesses who rapidly turn into suspects, a long list of incidents from the victim's past that could be reason for murder and Patricia even quotes Christie as a source of inspiration in untangling the evidence. 
It's told in the first person by K2 in a rather formal, bare style but one which sets the evidence plainly in front of the reader - so pulling me in with my own theories and guesswork which is part of the delight of this style of mystery. 

translated by Kari Dickson

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Mantle (Panmacmillan)
Genre - adult, murder mystery 

The Blue Room by Hanne Ørstavik

 review by Maryom

 One morning Johanne wakes up to discover that she's locked in her bedroom. While she waits for someone to come and release her, her thoughts wander backwards and forwards, over recent events, her plans for the future, her relationships with her mother and boyfriends. This should have been the day she was going to America with her boyfriend to start a new life. Instead she's stuck in her room, unable to get to the airport...but doesn't really seem that concerned...

This second book in Peirene's Coming of Age series is again a story of someone who doesn't. The Dead Lake  told the tale of a boy who didn't grow up physically; The Blue Room brings us a twenty-year old psychology student who hasn't grown up emotionally, who hasn't freed herself from her dominating mother's apron strings - and who doesn't really want to.

I found this a rather troubling read - Johanne was a difficult main character for me; manipulated and controlled by her mother, she was too meek and mild, too seeking of approval, and too accepting of, even craving, punishment for my liking. Her relationship with her mother, Unni, is extraordinarily close, possibly forced by the lack of privacy in their lives. Unni doesn't appear openly dominating, which may have been easier to rebel against, but bends Johanne to her will through carefully doled out praise and disapproval. This relationship has soured all others - friends, particularly boyfriends, have to gain her mother's approval. Johanne going to Church is ok - it reinforces the concept of obedience; going to parties with friends isn't - it might give her a taste for freedom. Johanne in turn seems to dream of swapping one subservient relationship for another - with her new boyfriend, of whom her mother doesn't approve. Her dreams open a disturbing view of her personality - pleasant, enjoyable scenes shift and change into abuse to which she meekly submits.

I felt there was a certain level of ambiguity to the telling of this story. It isn't really clear whether the door lock is broken or whether Unni has locked Johanne in. Even trapped in her room, Johanne is extremely passive - she doesn't shout for help from the neighbours or passers-by but sits and waits till her mother returns. Is this symbolic that she can't free herself from her relationship with her mother and is waiting for someone to do it for her? Is she even really locked in or just incapacitated by fear?

Did I enjoy it? A difficult question to answer; it's certainly a page-turner, one where I was egging the heroine on to stand up for herself and break free but Johanne is too meek and accepting of her fate for me to sympathise much.

translated by Deborah Dawkin

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Peirene Press
Genre - Adult Literary Fiction