Jeg hadde en oppvekst nesten som min egen

Below the Vestre Haslum farm in Bærum runs a river with the remains of a mill; on the farmyard stand two villas, one still holding the grandmother's grand furniture, a barn with a forest behind it, and a park up towards the church. The protagonist grows up here in the 1970s. Beneath an ordinary daily life lies a childhood marked by stealing, abuse and exclusion: strangers, men and women, tempt him with crisps and ice cream, relatives leave money in their coats at parties, and the carpenter in the barn keeps his savings in a bureau. The boy is driven by excitement and curiosity, shame and humiliation, rootlessness and a longing to belong. Today the woods are built over and the barn is gone, but the question remains whether telling of such a childhood can bring release.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Length

226 pages in the original

Genres

Coming of age (assigned by AI)

Set in

Norway, 1970s

First published

2020 by Forlaget November

Author's age

57 when first published

ISBN

9788230348215 (original)