The Half Brother

This epic novel, winner of the Nordic prize for literature 2002, tells the story of four generations of an extraordinary Norwegian family living in Oslo in the years following the Second World War. The saga begins with the horrifying rape of Vera in her attic as she hangs out the washing. Although her mother and grandmother do not know for sure what has happened to her as she retreats into a world of silence, they care for her tenderly as it becomes apparent that she is pregnant. The result is Fred, born 'raging' in the back of a taxi. He is later to be joined by his half-brother Barnum, the result of Vera's marriage to a mysterious and diminutive stranger, Arnold, who turns up one day in his prized Buick. Together with their friends and associates, they form a motley collection of physically and mentally impaired drunks or fraudsters and yet they all have a charmingly irresistible side to them. This is no ordinary family saga. It hangs on the bones of some unfortunate births and some even more unfortunate deaths, but in more than 750 pages, not a great deal else happens as the characters stumble from one minor disaster or embarrassment to the next. Do not be deceived, though. With a haunting narrative, finely translated, a wonderful mix of tragedy and black comedy and sparkling characterization, this novel is gripping to the end. As is necessary with something of this length, it is beautifully structured, using its central image of a wheel to lead its readers eerily and inexorably full-circle, showing history to repeat itself and leaving in the air as many questions as it answers. (Kirkus UK)