The image of the endless road that Lelle in his desperation drives constantly along, runs throughout this novel, emphasised by the lack of chapters. There are no breaks until you reach part two. The bleakness of the landscape, the relentless discomfort of the annoying mosquitoes and the constant too bright sun highlights his hopeless search for his missing daughter.
The story of seventeen year old Meja and her troubled mother is told in a parallel narrative. It was obvious that Meja’s story would overlap with Lelle’s but it is only in part two of the novel that I started to have a suspicion how it would come together.
The novel is quite slow but is atmospheric and brooding bringing a sense of dread in what Lelle will ultimately discover. The translation from the original Swedish is extremely well done and does not ‘feel’ translated at all.
Ultimately I came away with a sense of unease and hopelessness. Is it a thriller? Not for me as I did not feel there was the element of suspense, it is more an examination of relationships between parents and their children, and this is very dark.
Did I enjoy it? No, the subject matter is very unsettling.
Did I want to keep reading it? Yes. I wanted Lelle to ultimately get to the end of the road….you’ll have to read it to find out if he did!