The Day that Nils Vik Died
Den dagen Nils Vik døde
In the heart of Norway, a boat puts out from a pier. We follow Nils Vik on his final voyage. He is an ordinary man, with a simple job: to get people across the fjord with his boat, and to get them back home safely again. But what looks simple, often turns out to be more complicated.
The Day that Nils Vik Died is an elegy to the landscape of the fjords and to the people who cling to it. It’s a novel about a life-long love and the joy of the common and the ordinary. Nils Vik fills his boat with life and stories, as well as a desire to be reunited with his wife, Marta.
‘Has a more beautiful Norwegian novel about death been written? No.’
Adresseavisen
‘What a comeback! The prose painter Frode Grytten finds his right material. The result is literary gold […] this is a both poetic, rich and quite surprising novel.’
VG, 6/6 stars
‘A beautiful journey towards death […] an exceptionally beautiful portrait of love’
Dagbladet, 5/6 stars
‘A warm and poignant declaration of love for a bygone era. For a lifetime, the main character has been a ferryman, bringing people and livestock across the fjord. A captivating novel about life, death, and a lifelong love affair.’
Aftenposten
