AshehougAgency

Sander

A man agrees to live as a prisoner in a nearly empty apartment. Every day, two men come to videotape him and ask him questions about the woman he loves. They want to know about their life together and their relationship - and most of all they want to know why she is now nowhere to be found.

Terje Holtet Larsen deals with basic existential dilemmas in his novel. It is not only the novel’s exterior conditions, three people in a room, which gives the feeling of a secluded life. Gradually, all the characters’ helplessness to the life they give the impression of leading, is revealed.

Praise for Sander:

“A woman has disappeared, and there is a deep sense of unease in the intimate drama that follows. It is there right from the beginning, and Terje Holtet Larsen keeps the disquiet going throughout a pared down and tightly constructed novel.”
(Dagbladet)

“This results in a well-constructed, distinctive novel, which remains with the reader after the final page has been turned.”
(Aftenposten)

“And as the questions pile up, the tension increases in this well-composed, chillingly beautiful book, which is probably also a detective mystery. It is dispassionately and elegantly written by Holtet Larsen. As for myself, I turned the book round as soon as I had finished it and started to read it over again. Quite spontaneously.”
(Stavanger Aftenblad)

“Terje Holtet Larsen is one of our most competent young writers, and so I always approach each new book by him with great expectations. The novel Sander confirms Larsen’s literary position.”
(Adresseavisen)

“His literary work develops increasingly towards a breakthrough placing him with the giants of contemporary novel writing.”
(Bergens Tidende)

“You should read Sander because it is enthralling, different and entertaining. And at the end you might just find out how it all actually fits together."
(Osloposten) 

First published: 1998, Kolon Publishing House
Terje Holtet Larsen: Biography and bibliography