Thank you Orenda Books, #partner for the finished copy of The Bird Tribunal in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Orenda Books
Published: January 1, 2017 (first published 2013)
Summary:
Two people in exile. Two secrets. As the past tightens its grip, there may be no escape… TV presenter Allis Hagtorn leaves her partner and her job to take voluntary exile in a remote house on an isolated fjord. But her new job as housekeeper and gardener is not all that it seems, and her silent, surly employer, 44-year-old Sigurd Bagge, is not the old man she expected. As they await the return of his wife from her travels, their silent, uneasy encounters develop into a chilling, obsessive relationship, and it becomes clear that atonement for past sins may not be enough…
My thoughts:
This book had been sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read for quite a while and as the author is Norweigan I thought my trip to Norway was the perfect time to read it…and I cannot believe I waited so long. I loved it…so much in fact that while in Norway I bought another of Agnes Ravatn’s books and hopefully I’ll get to that one sooner than I did this one.
This book, while quite a short read coming in at not even 200 pages, is a slow-burning, tension-filled story that grabbed me from the get-go and never let up. I loved how atmospheric it was and how ever so slowly the secrets of the two characters come to the surface. This book gets under your skin as you move further into it – and I love books like that. It’s so hard to explain the trance I felt while I was reading this one. It’s a psychological thriller like no other – one that unsettles you because you are just waiting for something to happen but you have no idea that that will be or when. Many times, in fact, it almost feels like nothing is happening and yet you still get an uneasy feeling. It really is quite a brilliantly crafted book, one that is hauntingly beautiful and one that I have not stopped thinking about.
I absolutely loved this book and will definitely be reading it again. And I cannot wait to read more from this author.
