New Frontier Hotel

After becoming a single mother in the 1950s, Edith is sent by her family to her uncle in America. In the elevator at the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas she meets an up-and-coming young singer called Elvis Presley. She knocks on his door and is let in. At about the same time Edith meets the Swedish photographer Evert, who marries her and takes her to a new life in Sweden. They settle down in a large white house with the children John, Liv and Otto.

Love however is no simple thing, and a dramatic incident causes Evert to disappear out of the family’s life. And when the oldest son John decides to emigrate to USA, it is as if time has stood still. Edith’s America is alive again. But one day Evert returns, seeking contact with the youngest of the children, Otto, and the secrets and mysteries of the family threaten to come to the surface.

NEW FRONTIER HOTEL is a rich story where neglect, accidents and secrets threaten a family composed of strong personalities.

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Praise for New Frontier Hotel:

"Skillfully composed second novel about love and anger, presence and distance. (...) Blikstad jumps elegantly back and forth in time, constantly switching between the five family members' point of view in order to tell her story, which is impressively done and not confusing to the reader (...) Blikstad dares to let a few lines stand alone, almost like small tableaus, a thought, a short scene, before she once again changes her point of view. She makes the most of the gap that often arises between children's endless curiosity and their limited access to information, without getting childish. Brave moves, and they work."
(Dagsavisen)

"the author masters the art of not telling everything. She tells a little bit more every time she touches a story, yet we never get to know everything. (...) This secluded quality puts the characters in an enigmatic light, and this enigmatic quality, as well as the repeated family fables, makes me think of Sara Stridsberg's The Dream Faculty, which won her the 2007 Nordic Council's Literary Prize (...) New Frontier Hotel offers the entirely right combination of stories and secrets. The one that makes you think that yes, this is how this story was meant to be told."
(NRK)

"Stylistically precise drama (...) Blikstad (...) wields a professional pen and is technically accomplished. The novel's story is told through circling flashbacks, where recurring motifs are seen from different points of view. Blikstad gives each family member a voice, and in an elegant way she uses photography as a symbol of all the truths which can be hidden behind a single event."
(Dagbladet)

"Blikstad is good at keeping the different voices apart and at describing the characters' problems through their actions. This is a visual novel. Blikstad paints strong and vivid images, which are seen through the pastel glasses of reminiscence."
(Adresseavisen)

First published: 2009, Forlaget Oktober
Line Blikstad: Biography and bibliography

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