Hilde Rød-Larsen - Selected Title Author
We are happy to present our selected title author Hilde Rød-Larsen. She has written In The House of Pantaloon (original title: I Pantalones hus). The book is one of NORLA’s Selected Titles of the autumn 2024.
What inspired you to write this book?
Two very specific things inspired me to write In The House of Pantaloon:
Firstly, I was awarded a large grant by the Norwegian Booksellers Association, which goes to a promising author in the early phase of their career. It was stimulating because as well as being an important acknowledgment, it not least meant that for a period, and for the first time, I would be financially able to write full-time.
Secondly, it was hugely inspiring that before I began writing I had decided that I would this time write an action-driven novel. My first two books are driven primarily by existential tension, and I wanted to continue this tension, but within the framework of a plot.
Both things turned out to be very cathartic. So much so that when I wrote the book’s final scene, I decided to write two more books as an extension of it. In The House of Pantaloon thus became the first volume in what will become the “Pantaloon Trilogy”.
How is your book different from other books in this area?
In The House of Pantaloon is a literary book with a socially critical sting, which also borrows elements from the entertainment genre. This means that it can be read in several ways. Those who want to can just sit back and let themselves be carried away by the story of two women that don’t know each other yet are unexpectedly connected. There’s a love story and a Christmas story in there too! And those that wish may also find that the book contains hints of social analysis, because it explores how we as individuals act and think within the social structures we find ourselves in.
All these things are linked via the subject of heritage: biological heritage, social heritage and material heritage. This will also be the overarching theme for the entire trilogy, which as a whole will become a kind of family saga.
What fun I’m going to have over the next few years!
Read more
See full presentation of the book here
Read more about the author here
See all NORLA’s Selected Titles for the autumn 2024 here
