AshehougAgency

Folly

In Folly we meet Rita and her brother Simon who spend their childhood years living in a caravan site in the east of Norway in the mid-80s. But it is only temporary. Soon their father, who disappeared a long time ago, will come all the way from Australia and take the family away with him. He has promised Rita’s mother Hjørdis, in a dream, that he will. She spends the days in her bed where she turns away from the world and delves into her dreams. But one day an English marine biologist comes to Hammervik caravan site. With him is his daughter, wearing a red velvet dress, who catches Rita’s attention. But that is not all; for the first time in eleven years, Hjørdis gets out of bed and enters Rita’s life. Rita is happy. As long as weird grandma Alma doesn’t ruin everything with her stories about people who love what they cannot have. For what happened to the guy who swallowed a pin in his sleep? And how many opals did Rita’s father find in Australia? Is time really elastic? Is it true that everything that ever happened can come back at any time and rap you over the knuckles?

Folly is Hilde Hagerup’s first novel for adults. It is a Norwegian magic novel.

klick here for an English sample translation.

Praise for Folly:

"Brilliant first novel for adults… sensationally good … an effervescent story from the enchanted world of childhood and an incredibly multi-faceted revelation of the mind’s hiding places and the heart’s strength and vulnerability…Hagerup has a supreme grasp both of the novel’s composition and this state between dream and reality where the story unfolds…First and foremost, there is a broad sky above this novel. Under this sky, by the sea, life blossoms in all its width, with loneliness and longing and passion, with fear and togetherness, with the child’s maturity and the adult’s childishness. Seldom have I become so uplifted by new Norwegian literature as I was during the reading of this novel.”
(Aftenposten)

”Bubbling with neat whims and observations […] Hagerup gives the reader the opportunity to personally experience the world from a new perspective, through putting into words the tiny nuances that we normally do not grant more than a look [...] My guess is that this book will be one of this autumn’s most widely read.”
(Fredrikstad Blad)

” Impressive. Stylish magical realism from skilled debutant…a prolific, absurd and tragicomic story… The composition is delightful, with accurate images and sharp characterisations. Written in a detailed, repetitive and almost childlike style….this John Irving-like story is so effervescent in its generous joy of storytelling that I cannot imagine it not becoming a bestseller.”
(Dagbladet)

”Yet again, Hilde Hagerup demonstrates her vigorous joy of writing, her linguistic sensitivity and her sharp eye for people’s strong and weak sides. There is a very special generosity in Hagerup’s literary universe.” (Dagsavisen)

“Bubbling, subtle family drama. Every once in a while they appear; novels with a highly characteristic tone, a seductive voice in the text, and this voice can take the liberty to cut the most peculiar capers… Now Hilde Hagerup is here, and if she continues in the direction set out by her new novel Folly, well then readers have much to look forward to.”
(Stavanger Aftenblad)

Hilde Hagerup: Biography and bibliography

First published: 2005, Aschehoug Fiction