The Unseen / White Ocean / The Eyes of Rigel
De usynlige / Hvitt hav / Rigels øyne
The trilogy tells the story about Ingrid Barrøy and it marked yet another breakthrough for Roy Jacobsen. With these books he has captured new readers in Norway – and abroad. The first book in the series has been sold to 23 countries and was, as the first Norwegian novel ever, shortlisted for both The Man Booker International Prize and The International Dublin Literary Award.
The Unseen, is set in the first half of the 20th Century on an island on the NorthWestern coast of Norway. The island is small, there is only space for the Barrøy family. Life on the island is difficult. The Barrøy family is poor, but certainly not without guts and skills. The Unseen is inspired by real people, who Jacobsen knew in his childhood. It is a family saga, and a coming-of-age story about Ingrid. It can also be labeled a Robinsonade.
White Ocean, a stand alone sequel to The Unseen, is a dramatic love story from the small island Barrøy in the year 1944–45. Ingrid thinks she is alone on the island, but experiences an unusual love affair in the course of several intense winter-weeks.
The Eyes of Rigel is the third book in the trilogy. A strong, epic novel about a country and a people after a great war. In this moving story about a woman that does what everyone tells her not to – Ingrid ventures out on a hazardous quest to find the young Russian Alexander, a man she had a love affair with and who is the father of her child.
“Masterful Epic condensed in 268 pages of brilliance.”
The Irish Examiner
“(…) a profound interrogation of freedom and fate, as well as a fascinating portrait of a vanished time, written in prose as clear and washed clean as the world after a storm.”
The Guardian
“The Unseen is simply a fantastic novel.”
Dagbladet
