Acclaimed author Linn Ullman’s latest novel ‘A Blessed Child’, which was shortlisted for Norway’s most prestigious literary award the Brage Prize, will now be published in the UK.
‘A Blessed Child’ is Linn Ullmann’s fourth novel, shot through with deep empathy and black humour. It is a portrait of three Scandinavian half-sisters, Erika, Laura and Molly, and their father Isak Lövenstad, a prominent and temperamental ultrasound specialist.
A dramatic and terrible incident unfolds one evening in 1979 on the island of Hammarsö – a modern Nordic Prospero’s island – where Isak and his young daughters spend their summers. It is the hottest summer since 1874, a summer of volatile and unexpected alliances – of love, theatre, betrayal and sudden tragedy.
‘A Blessed Child’ is a provocative novel with strong undercurrents of raw sensuality and violence. Written with audacity and penetrating insight, it explores the dangerous politics of childhood and family, of shame and terror, of sexuality, solitude and vulnerability.
Linn Ullmann is a graduate of New York University, where she studied English literature. She returned to her native Oslo in 1990, where she now lives with her husband and children and works as a journalist and literary critic. She is the author of three previous, prize-winning novels which have been internationally acclaimed and translated into more than 30 languages. ‘Before You Sleep’, ‘Stella Descending’ and ‘Grace’ are available in Picador paperback.
‘A Blessed Child’ is out 15 August on Picador hardback, priced £14.99.