What happens when passion is mistaken for love? Vigdis Hjorth's novel documents a decade of destruction in a woman's life when she makes just such a mistake.
Her fiction mixes overt political themes...with intimate subject matter ... Turbulent desire is all bound up too with creativity ... A comedy about pathetic mortals, viewed from above.
The narrative makes sparing, effective use of jumps in time to give a sense of the larger trajectory of Ida’s life. This device lends the novel perspective: Ida’s feelings shift, and she begins to envision a life beyond the endless circles of infatuation and abuse. Feverish and intoxicating, If Only is a novel about the depths of a life-altering devotion and the connections between love, creativity, and self-making.
Another crisp, cogent translation by Charlotte Barslund ... The beauty of If Only is in the way Hjorth underscores how often love and suffering are bedmates
