AshehougAgency

Elin and Hans

Hans is the narrator of this novel. He wakes up one Saturday, a few days after his wife died in an unusual accident. In his mind, Hans reflects on their everyday life in the house, and then he goes for a walk in the small town where he works as an architect. Outwardly, Hans in many ways appears to be a formal, conservative husband, and Elin a career woman with a traditional housewife role to play at home. The memories, however, also evoke more emotions than Hans believes himself capable of mastering.

Elin and Hans is a precise and well-composed novel that further confirms Trude Marstein's prominent position among the younger Norwegian authors. Central to her style of writing is the way she explores the ability of the mind to discuss with itself, and the influence of the emotions on apparently rational actions.

Praise for Elin and Hans:

"Her best literary work so far. She has thoroughly proved that she belongs among the writers who make the future look bright for Norwegian literature"
(Dagbladet)

First published: 2002, Forlaget Oktober
Trude Marstein: Biography and bibliography