Storm kiss

The sun has just set, darkness falls, the air is dry and there is frost. We are walking through the park. Vilde is wearing leather gloves, I hold her hand. My hands are bare. The woods go black around us. We walk over to the pool with the seals; stop by the railing to watch. One seal has his nose above the surface, glides heavy and dark over to the edge and turns.

We stand by the railing, our breath warm. The seal has disappeared under the surface. She touches my neck with her hand, her leather glove hand is cold and smooth, it is like she wants to feel my pulse. She strokes me down to my clavicle inside my scarf. I turn to her.

What, I say.
Are you cold, she says.
I’m not cold.
I long for you.

Selma works in a kindergarten; she is sharing a house with her girlfriend Vilde when a third woman, Ane, moves in. Selma’s grandmother is sent to the hospital after a heart attack, Selma and her mother worry about her. Then one day Selma’s mother disappears. Selma leaves to look for her; and while she is in her mother’s empty house, a strange woman lets herself in.

Aanestad shows a wide range of mechanisms between these women, a web of conscious and subconscious choices. Storm Kiss is a story about mothers and daughters, love and break-ups, about leaving or staying. This elegant novel has a straightforward and precise tone and an immense pressure.

Oktober, to be published in October 2010