The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize was established by the newspaper to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the UK, and this year Norway’s Ketil Bjørnstad is one of the 15 talented international writers to feature on the long-list. The judges will meet again in April to reduce the list down to six.
‘The novel is an enchanting tale of love and death, desire and loss, about how parents and mentors manipulate and ultimately fail the young people entrusted to them’, wrote Tone Sutterud for The Independent.
The novel features 16-year-old Aksel whose mother is swept away in a swimming accident. Unable to come to terms with her death, the family sinks into isolation and despair. But the music that his mother loved gradually becomes Aksel’s reason for living. A talented pianist, he dedicates himself completely to a make-or-break competition. He and his fellow-musicians live in a feverish atmosphere of competitiveness, and intense isolation in which eroticism and obsession flourish. Aksel is drawn into a relationship with the mysterious Anja, a relationship filled with secrets and dark suspicions.
With unsettling complexity, the author also raises questions about the creative process itself: is it ultimately possible to produce our most exquisite art forms without too high a price in personal suffering?
Ketil Bjørnstad is a well known Norwegian pianist and composer. He is also an equally accomplished writer, having published some twenty books. His novels include 'The Story of Edvard Munch' and 'Villa Europa'. 'To Music', the first of a trilogy, is also the winner of the 2008 Prix des Lecteurs.