Ida Therese Klungland - Selected Title Author

What is this book about?

I Regret Nothing is about Jakub, who is 15 years old and struggling to find his place in the world as a gay Catholic. The different social “roles” he has come with different expectations, which he is unable to combine. He is popular at school, a funny, gay, best friend to his friends; fun at parties, attractive to the boys he meets. But at home things are worse. His Polish mother and Norwegian stepfather are mainly interested in him having a proper confirmation; that he ask for his sins to be forgiven, and that he generally pulls himself together. When that doesn’t work out, everything starts to unravel. It is a story about sex, drugs and wanting to belong. And at the same time, to perhaps find somewhere that you can be your real self.

How is your book different from other books in this area?

I’ve been very concerned with the literary voice and style while working on this book. This has resulted in a young adult’s novel with a quite minimalist form, where the scenes can stand alone. I believe this has contributed to a “directness” that hopefully strikes the reader. I’ve also gone to great lengths to place the voice close to the protagonist Jakub. Although the novel is often focused on drama and action, what’s most important is how Jakub reacts to it all. I have made a point of this, precisely because Jakub doesn’t live an entirely average life for a ninth grader. I hope readers who live different lives will also be drawn into his story by its form and by the closeness of the narrator’s voice. This of course isn’t “unique” for young adult novels. But I perhaps take it a bit longer than we are used to. I also think the novel stands out because of the protagonist’s age. There is a tendency for us to apply “heavier” subjects to older protagonists – especially those of high school age. I really understand why this is a tendency. Firstly, it’s easier to reach older readers if the protagonist is older, and secondly, depicting heavy subject matter that involves a young protagonist is very discomforting. But I think that secondary school teenagers can go through difficult challenges as well, and they too deserve to have their stories told. I hope Jakub and I Regret Nothing will reach readers of many age groups, and that those who recognise themselves will feel seen, and those who don’t will still feel as though they have seen things from Jakub’s perspective.

Read more

See full presentation of the book here

Read more about the author here (in Norwegian)

See all NORLA’s Selected Titles for the autumn 2024 here