Vigdis Hjorth publishes a novel titled “Is Mother Dead” – VG

Cappelen Damm confirms the news to VG and announces that the novel will go on sale on August 21.

Vigdis Hjorth, who sparked a lot of debate and a public family battle after the novel “Heritage and Environment” in 2016, says in a statement through the publisher that the new book follows the self-examination of the protagonist Johanna and her attempts to understand and get closer to your mother.

According to the editor, he delves into “Is Mother Dead” more deeply into the mother-daughter problem and the questions that are often asked when a certain age is reached: why life has become what it has become.

Vigdis Hjorth has a long and long writing experience, but it was with the critically acclaimed novel “Heritage and Environment” that the true commercial breakthrough occurred. The book received the Library Prize, was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize, topped the bestseller lists, and has a total circulation of 150,000 copies.

Read VG’s review here: a treat to read

But the book, which covered topics such as family, heredity, and incest, also sparked a huge debate about reality literature in the fall of 2016. The family felt betrayed, and their sister Helga Hjorth shocked the whole year after publish the counter novel “Free Will”.

The conflict continued in book form when Vigdis Hjorth later, in the fall of 2017, in the book “Vigdis, part by part” (written by Kaja Schjerven Mollerin) said that he thought Helga Hjorth’s novel “Free Will” was too big to carry the older sister.

Later, the family notified lawsuits against the National Scene in Bergen for the “Heritage and Environment” setting. The setting violated privacy, said Inger Hjorth, Vigdis Hjorth’s mother. Nothing else happened after the theater rejected the case. But Sister Helga has previously stated that “Inheritance and the Environment” was a severe blow to the father who was dead and had no opportunity to defend himself.

VG has been in contact with Helga Hjorth about the new book and the book title, but does not want to comment on the matter.

According to publisher Cappelen Damm, Vigdis Hjorth also doesn’t want to be interviewed about the new book, but says in a statement:

– We meet Johanna, who is an artist. She has spent the past three decades in the United States with her husband and son. After the man dies, Johanna returns to her homeland. A gallery invited her to create a retrospective exhibition, with a new commission as the focal point. What remains of the life that Johanna left in Norway decades ago? How are you going to bring the past and the present together? Says Hjorth in the editorial statement.

The publisher doesn’t want to answer VG’s questions about Vigdis Hjorth’s mother and sister’s notification about the book or if they’ve been offered something to read, but communications manager Tone Hansen at Cappelen Damm says the book “has received a comprehensive editorial evaluation “:

– The details of the process allow us to be a matter between editor and author. Similar to his previous releases of “Teacher’s Song” and “To Speak and to Silence”, Tone Hansen tells VG.

– With the title of the book, and the exploration of the mother-daughter relationship book, and in light of the aftermath of “Inheritance and the Environment”, do you expect a new round in the debate on reality literature?

– Books can often start debates in surprising ways, but we don’t expect any debate on “reality literature” regarding this release. It wasn’t long when the previous novel, “The Master’s Song,” was released, says Hansen.

– Readers now know very well that the relationship between Vigdis Hjorth and the mother is not a good one, and the title of the new book hits hard. What thoughts do the editor and Hjorth have regarding the effect of this?

– We don’t usually explain our romantic titles in the media until the book comes out. But one thing I can say about it: like many good Hjorth titles, this new name is also finished reading. The next book naturally fits into Hjorth’s writing and will recognize the way he writes history with a great psychological outlook, and not least his use of the perspectives of art and literature.

Over the past year, Vigdis Hjorth has gained new international recognition. “Heritage and the Environment” was sold for publication in 22 countries, and at the Frankfurt book fair, where Norway was the top country in 2019, Hjorth was one of the most talked about Norwegian author names.

Check: Top Ten: Norway’s Top 10 Most Popular Writers Right Now

– Of course, it is gratifying to see that Hjorth’s stories reach far beyond the world of the Norwegian book. She writes about common problems and challenges that can be recognized, regardless of nationality. This is emphasized, for example, by the reception it received in the English-speaking market. She has received high recognition, among other things, through the nomination for the prestigious National Book Award and a series of strong reviews, says communications manager Tone Hansen at Cappelen Damm.

Vigdis Hjorth himself has always confirmed that the novel “Heritage and Environment” is autobiographical, but in the last year he spoke about the family struggle in relation to the international release of “Heritage and Environment”. In this interview with the Los Angeles Review of Books, she calls her sister’s novel “Free Will” a “revenge novel”:

– My sister has written a revenge novel in which she paints a completely different image of my family. And it forced me to speak about the novel in a different way. I can no longer say that there is nothing of reality, because she has proved it, Hjorth tells the magazine.

I would have released “Heritage and Environment” free online

Hjorth also states in the interview that she was well prepared for what was to come because the family had hired an attorney who wrote to the publisher several months before the book was published.

– So, I was ready. What worried me the most was that my editor panicked, or that the publication manager got cold. So I thought, if they don’t publish the book, I’ll publish it for free on the Internet.

Hjorth notes the international success the book has received as proof that it is a novel:

– When it is published in other languages ​​and in other countries where I am not known, it is proof to me and my family that it is a novel, and that it is not necessary that they know me, my family or mi To like the book, Hjorth tells the Los Angeles Review of Books.