Reviewed by Timothy Niedermann
This first novel by Norwegian author Hanna Stoltenberg, explores the relationship between a mother and her daughter. It is a brief book, only 145 pages, but it is dense with emotion.
The mother, Karin, is divorced and lives alone. Her daughter, Helene, her only child, lives with her husband and her two young children. The relationship between the two is strained. As a result, Karin does not often see Helene and her family, even though they both live not far from each other in Oslo, Norway. Then, out of the blue, Helene invites Karin to accompany her on a weekend trip to London, England. The invitation surprises Karin, but she sees the trip to London as a way to become closer to her daughter.
The narrative flows through the mind of Karin, interlacing the present with memories of her past, both as a child and as a young mother. Karin had Helene when she was twenty and left her husband when Helene was quite young. This has clearly affected the way they interact. Helene was a headstrong child and remains so. Karin has difficulty understanding what Helene wants from her and often makes assumptions that turn out to be incorrect, annoying Helene. As a result, the two appear often to simply talk past each other, neither quite understands where the other is coming from, even though it is clear that but each wishes to be closer to the other.
Much of Karin’s thinking is concerned with what it is to be, not just how to be a wife and mother, but someone who can love both spouse and children, for she feels she doesn’t really know how to do either. Karin herself had a difficult upbringing with distant parents. Her relationships with men have been up and down. When it turns out that the London trip has another purpose, to address some difficulty in Helene’s marriage, Karin tries to address Helene’s needs but feels out of place, especially when they spend an evening with some friends of Helen’s from her university days in London.
Stoltenberg gives no pat answers. Rather she brings out the confusion in Karin’s emotions as she tries to find a way to have a nurturing role for her daughter.
An intimate portrait of a woman who has never found her place but still yearns to find it.
Near Distance is published by Bibiloasis.
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