The Gradual Disappearance of Jane Ashland

Description

An American woman wakes up alone in a tent in the Norwegian mountains. Outside a storm rages and the fog is dense. Her phone is dead. She doesn't have a map or a compass or any food. How she ended up there, and the tragic events of her past emerges over the course of this slim, gripping novel. We discover that she's a writer with a bad case of writer's block - she hasn't written a word since her husband and daughter died in a tragic car crash. As we watch Jane's life spiral out of control, we also see how she got here - her troubled parents and loving marriage. This beautifully written, compelling novel moves seamlessly between Jane's past, and the extraordinary landscape of the Norwegian mountains, as we gradually unpick the emotional drama that has led her to this lonely landscape.

Born in Norway in 1974, Houm is an exciting new talent and critics have described him as 'a Norwegian Don De Lillo' and Norway's 'most American author, in the very best sense'. One critic said the novel as 'combined surgically precise observations with the drive and ingenuity of the best television series'. He has published two novels which were both critically acclaimed in Norway, and this is the first English publication of his work. He works part-time as an editor in publishing house Cappelen Damm, and lives in Lier with his wife and daughter.