The Case of the Caprice of Lost Time

Overview

From award–winning Norwegian author Rune Christiansen comes an absorbing and exquisite story about one woman’s search for independence and a sense of belonging, and the unearthing of family secrets.

Two months following her mother’s death, Norma travels alone to visit her father, Torsten, with whom she has had a strained relationship since her parents divorced. Recently separated herself, Norma is at a crossroads in life and desperate to get away for a while. She views the chance to visit Torsten on the island where he now lives, in the family’s idyllic old summer home, as a much-needed retreat.

From the moment Norma steps off the ferry, a series of mysterious things begin to happen. While standing on the quay waiting for her father to pick her up, Norma sees the silhouette of a horseback rider under a twisted tree on a hillside. After an unknown woman visits Torsten in the middle of the night, it becomes increasingly clear to Norma that her evasive father is hiding something from her. Norma interprets each of these strange happenings as a sign and begins looking for answers to better understand herself and how her life has unfolded. With her beloved mother gone, only her emotionally distant father can provide them—unless the truth lies within herself.

Author Biography

RUNE CHRISTIANSEN is one of Norway’s most important literary writers and the author of over twenty books, including works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. He has won many prestigious awards, including the 2014 Brage Prize for his bestselling novel The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman’s Life. Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest was shortlisted for the Brage Prize, and The Case of the Caprice of Lost Time won the French Transfuge Prize in 2023. Also a professor of creative writing, Christiansen lives just outside of Oslo, Norway.

KARI DICKSON is a literary translator. She translates from Norwegian, and her work includes literary fiction, children's books, theatre, and nonfiction. Some recent literary translations include Rune Christiansen's Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest and The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman's Life, and Mona Høvring's Because Venus Crossed an Alpine Violet on the Day that I Was Born, co-translated by Rachel Rankin. She is also an occasional tutor in Norwegian language, literature, and translation at the University of Edinburgh, and has worked with the British Centre for Literary Translation (BCLT) and the National Centre for Writing. Dickson lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.