Dagar í kvirrunnar søgu
An elderly married couple have silently agreed on one thing, never to speak of the past. While he becomes increasingly distant and finally silent, she tries to cut a path out of the loneliness and silence.
Merethe Lindstrøm writes about hiding secrets and silence.
The book is about the love between two people, who, in their lives, have faced monumental decisions that have steered their existence. And then they realise some things refuse to remain hidden. Not that the past returns but rather, it has never disappeared. And now it makes its presence felt in the aging woman’s conscience like never before.
At one point, the Lithuanian help says to the woman: “Norwegian homes are clean (...) just as Norwegians are.” An odd comment, which the woman makes light of in laughter, but so much is hidden in this one simple sentence.
The aging woman, who is married to a Jew, ought to have heard what the help really was saying. Without giving too much away, this Lituanian, Maria, is interested in the notion of “purity” in more ways than one.