As his shippinge empire slides into bank-

ruptcy, Torn Reber broods on his life in

a tiny Norwegian seaside resort.Images

and faces from the past bear down on

him His aristocratic background leaves

him ill-equipped to handle business fail-

ure: his time in a German concentration

camp disturbs him all the more because

he discovers that the suffering he en-

dured taught him nothing but how to

survive by denying his individuality.

Rebers despair is reinforced by the presence of Henry Hagen, a blindly

possessive, self-made man who is sus-

pected of dealing with the Nazis during

the war. Reber is also romantically in-

volved with Hagen s wife, Lene.

Oystein Lonn has written a tense, com-

pact, and powerful narrative. He ex-

plores the human condition in the man-

ner of Edgar Allan Poe and the

detective novelist, constructing a web of

psychological intrigue and suspense

and creating a real sense of destinies

and personalities intersecting.

Oystein Lonn is the author of nine works

of fiction and is one of Norway s most

distinguished novelists. He also works as

a journalist, screen writer, and art critic.