The Brage award is the biggest and most prestigious Norwegian book award. In their announcement, the jury said the following about the winning books:

… a different book about the war … The book’s mixture of historical insight and a personal perspective makes it a good read and stimulates the reader to think. In a matter-of-factly language Westlie provides a direct and up-close portrayal of his father’s actions. But the book succeeds in avoiding the excessively private, thereby making the material interesting for many.
(about Bjørn Westlie's My Father's War)

In addition to his exquisitely precise language, Petterson has a unique ability to find the core of the decisive situations in a life. In an unaffected way he cuts right to the bone. His language is simple, but of high quality, from one sentence to the next, the whole book through.
(about Per Petterson's I Curse the River of Time)