March 14, 2022
Jessen (A Change in Time) returns with a meticulously crafted collection showcasing her trademark psychological realism. In “Mother and Son,” a woman’s troubled son falls in with a group of violent boys and befriends an old man in the countryside who owns some horses. The story peaks with an act of violence followed by unspoken forgiveness. In the vignette “An Argument,” Jessen paints a convincing portrait of a couple’s relationship losing steam. In “An Excursion,” a woman renowned for her work as a furniture upholsterer meets a stylish man at an antique fair. In the title story, the witnesses of a fatal bus accident attempt to move on with their lives. These are quiet dramas, and even when emotions rise to the surface, they do so in a subtle, simmering fashion. Sometimes Jessen’s simplicity veers into the mundane, but for the most part it’s elevated by beautiful construction as her characters face universal conflicts. There’s also something of a celebration of Danish culture going on, with copious descriptions of, for instance, fried herring and lovely small towns. Jessen offers myriad if quiet delights.
March 15, 2022
These six short stories by award-winning Danish writer and translator Jessen take an unshrinking look at love in various forms. A woman who makes a living reupholstering furniture finds herself reevaluating her husband after a visit from a dying friend. Trapped in her marriage by love and hope, she considers the other small-business owners in their seaside town: "Even in the crippling economic crisis, optimism prevailed, or perhaps more accurately stubborness [sic], indomitableness...making the best of a bad situation." In another story, told from multiple points of view, the mother of two young children is murdered, and an elderly couple with information about the crime faces an agonizing choice. A translator in a sexually unsatisfying marriage fights with her husband, then reconciles, then fights again. "How horrid a love," she thinks. Romantic or maternal, love demands a steep price. In the story "Mother and Son," Lisbet imagines she can see her wayward 20-year-old "surrounded by a light so fierce that even a bitterly cold day in a dismal parking lot feels like unrequited love." Jessen's writing is graceful, unhurried, convincing. The narratives unfold in unexpected ways. In the title story, a young woman witnesses a bus accident and meets a man. The story then jumps ahead 20 years. Returning to the city where it happened, she reflects on how that small event changed her life and on the girl she'd been then. An awareness of time--whether years or eons--brightens otherwise bleak situations. The furniture repairer muses about the previous ice age: "Digging in the garden, she would find remains of seaweed embedded deep in the sandy soil. And far out on the open sea, fishermen would discover in their nets the roots of trees from a bygone forest. She took some measure of comfort in this, the knowledge that in time everything came round again." The complexities of love and the passage of time enrich this insightful, original collection.
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May 1, 2022
Renowned Danish writer Jessen's short-story collection shows her penchant for writing about everyday lives as they're disrupted in ways, large and small, that alter her character's trajectories. Quite satisfied with her single life, a middle-aged woman meets a suave and charming man whom she loves despite his tendency to berate her. In the titular story, a series of unplanned events leads a young woman to witness a terrible accident that will affect her both directly and indirectly. In more than one story, mothers have difficulties with their withdrawn and violent sons. While large events occur--a murder, even--Jessen's writing remains subdued and detailed, ensuring that readers will be drawn into each story and feel emotionally connected to the characters. Danish life is simply and realistically woven throughout, with hints that some of these stories may be set in the same small town. Expertly translated by Aiken, Jessen's language flows beautifully, making this a collection readers could easily devour in a sitting; its characters and themes will stay with them long after.
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