Sister Bells Trilogy – serie

"Love, suspense, nature and superstition are woven together in this powerful novel" MAJA LUNDE, author of The History of Bees"Lars Mytting writes with an insight, empathy and integrity few others can match" JO NESBO"An exquisitely atmospheric novel . . . The Bell in the Lake does what fiction promises: to steal you away to another world and ask you, if unfairly, to leave a little of your heart behind" DEREK B. MILLER, author of Norwegian by Night"Lyrical, melancholy and with beautifully drawn characters, this pitches old beliefs against new ways with a haunting delicacy that rings true." DAILY MAILTHE TIMES' "Historical Fiction Book of the Month"The first in a rich historical trilogy that draws on legend, by a literary craftsman and the author of The Sixteen Trees of the SommeNorway, 1880. Winter is hard in Butangen, a village secluded at the end of a valley. The lake has frozen, and for months the ground is too hard to bury the dead. Astrid Hekne dreams of a life beyond all this, beyond marriage, children, and working the land to the end of her days. Then Pastor Kai Schweigaard takes over the small parish, with its 700-year-old stave church carved with pagan deities. The two bells in the tower were forged by Astrid's forefather in the sixteenth century, in memory of conjoined twins Halfrid and Gunhild Hekne. They are said to hold supernatural powers.The villagers are wary of the pastor and his resolve to do away with their centuries-old traditions, though Astrid also finds herself drawn to him. And then a stranger arrives from Dresden, with grand plans for the church itself. For headstrong Astrid this may be a provocation too far.Talented architecture student Gerhard Schonauer is an improbable figure in this rugged community. Astrid has never met anyone like him; he seems so different, so sensitive. She finds that she must make a choice: for her homeland and the pastor, or for an uncertain future in Germany. Then the bells begin to ring . . .Translated from the Norwegian by Deborah DawkinWith the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union

"Lars Mytting writes with an insight, empathy and integrity few others can match" JO NESBOThe Reindeer Hunters is the second in a thrilling historical trilogy that began with The Bell in the Lake.The year is 1903, and twenty-two years have passed since Astrid Hekne died in childbirth. Her son Jehans lives on a modest smallholding up in the hills near Butangen, having withdrawn from his community. He is drawn to freedom, to fishing and reindeer hunting, and one day meets a stranger over the body of a huge reindeer buck.Outside the new church in Butangen, Pastor Kai Schweigaard still cares for Astrid Hekne's grave. The village's overworked priest is tormented by his old betrayal, which led to death and to the separation of two powerful church bells cast in memory of two sisters in Astrid's family. Kai is set on finding an ancient tapestry made by the sisters - the Hekne Weave - in the hope that it will reveal how he can remedy his iniquities.Conceived on an epic scale by Norway's bestselling author, The Reindeer Hunters is a novel about love and bitter rivalries, sorrow and courage, about history and myth, and a country as it enters a new era, about the first electric light and the Great War in Europe, where brother stands against brother.Translated from the Norwegian by Deborah Dawkin

A riveting and epic family drama set in WWII-era Norway, award-winning author Lars Mytting's The Night of the Scourge is the final novel in the internationally bestselling Sister Bells trilogyButangen, Norway, the years before WWII: Astrid Hekne has inherited the fighting spirit and hypersensitivity of her grandmother, who was a protector of the mythic Sister Bells that had once hung in the village's centuries-old stave church. The priest Kai Schweigaard, now in his eighties, is wondering how his death, prophesied in a centuries-old tapestry, will come to pass. He delves into the myths about the Night of the Scourge, which, according to old village beliefs, is when the known world will be scraped down to bare rock.Then Norway is occupied by the Nazis. Astrid joins the Resistance, and Kai is thrown out of his own church. A suspected betrayal within Astrid's own family unites the Sister Bells in Dresden. Special effort and sacrifice, not only from the Hekne family, will be needed to combat the postwar rumours and mistrust.This family drama, set in the tumultuous times of WWII, beautifully completes the Sister Bells trilogy. But while it connects to the previous books in surprising and thrilling ways, it can also be read as a standalone, a beautiful novel of magical realism that intertwines Norwegian folklore and myths with a rich story of hardship and passion.Translated from the Norwegian by Deborah DawkinPraise for The Bell in the Lake - a Times Historical Fiction Book of the Month"A beautiful example of modern Norwegian folklore" Guardian "Lyrical, melancholy and with beautifully drawn characters" Daily Mail"Mytting's cleverly crafted story heads inexorably to a moving conclusion" Sunday Times

A riveting and epic family drama set in WWII-era Norway, award-winning author Lars Mytting's The Night of the Scourge is the final novel in the internationally bestselling Sister Bells trilogyButangen, Norway, the years before WWII: Astrid Hekne has inherited the fighting spirit and hypersensitivity of her grandmother, who was a protector of the mythic Sister Bells that had once hung in the village's centuries-old stave church. The priest Kai Schweigaard, now in his eighties, is wondering how his death, prophesied in a centuries-old tapestry, will come to pass. He delves into the myths about the Night of the Scourge, which, according to old village beliefs, is when the known world will be scraped down to bare rock.Then Norway is occupied by the Nazis. Astrid joins the Resistance, and Kai is thrown out of his own church. A suspected betrayal within Astrid's own family unites the Sister Bells in Dresden. Special effort and sacrifice, not only from the Hekne family, will be needed to combat the postwar rumours and mistrust.This family drama, set in the tumultuous times of WWII, beautifully completes the Sister Bells trilogy. But while it connects to the previous books in surprising and thrilling ways, it can also be read as a standalone, a beautiful novel of magical realism that intertwines Norwegian folklore and myths with a rich story of hardship and passion.Translated from the Norwegian by Deborah DawkinPraise for The Bell in the Lake - a Times Historical Fiction Book of the Month"A beautiful example of modern Norwegian folklore" Guardian "Lyrical, melancholy and with beautifully drawn characters" Daily Mail"Mytting's cleverly crafted story heads inexorably to a moving conclusion" Sunday Times