PositiveSan Francisco Book ReviewUnflinching...a powerful recounting ... A meditation on memory ... The descriptions of nature and geography in Invisible Orphans are vibrant and compelling ... The settings of the various scenes...are often portrayed more strongly than the characters who feature in them, particularly the numerous supporting players who pop up to relate something expositional and then quickly fade away. The structure of the story also makes it difficult to fully grasp the characters, as the sudden scene endings and frequent time shifts sometimes result in a lack of character depth and an inability to focus on key issues, even particularly poignant ones. Still, as a whole Invisible Orphans is a captivating story ... Vivi is an absorbing main character and her all-too-human struggles...draw the reader in.
Nicolai Houm, Trans. by Anna Paterson
RaveNudgeThe Gradual Disappearance of Jane Ashland is a suspenseful exploration of just how far down the rabbit hole of grief it is possible to fall. The switching between the desolate Norwegian landscape in which Jane finds herself trapped and the circumstances of her prior domestic life with her family, which was not without its own sense of confinement, works strikingly well, highlighting just how far Jane has fallen into despair and desolation and how her psyche perhaps needs to be fully broken before she can begin the process of healing. Nicolai Houm (here translated into English by Anna Paterson) has captured an excellent sense of place, with the Norwegian wilderness arguably serving as a key antagonist during Jane’s reflections on her life and her current self ... Houm manages to inject humor into the most unlikely places. Somehow, Jane’s despair manifests in numerous witty observations and droll one-liners, which help to lighten the mood and humanize her as a character. Her story is compelling, both her present predicament and the secrets lurking in her past, with a dark, mysterious undercurrent that moves the action forward at a rapid pace. The Gradual Disappearance of Jane Ashland is a short yet undeniably weighty book, and it makes for a hugely enjoyable read.
