Why is it so difficult to talk about grief? And why does it hurt so much to talk about those who are dead? With Tyra Teodora Tronstad, the pain becomes physical: The grief has caused Henry’s father, Joachim, to lose his beautiful singing voice. Now the opera singer is in danger of losing his job. But it’s worse: Terrible hurling wind Neither Joachim nor Henry can mention their mother’s name without a violent wind hurling itself over them, smashing any movable property in the apartment. Crockery, lamps and books fly between walls. What can be broken, is broken. So father and son have learned to live in silence. Until one day Henry reveals his mother’s name at school, with the result that his best friend is blown over and breaks her ankle. Ugly. Everyone thinks it’s Henry who pushed her. But the principal knows better. He sends Joachim and his father to the Institute for Significant Memories – and from here on, a lot happens that should not be revealed at all. Writing in the magic What can be revealed is that Tronstad taps into the shimmering veil of magic when she writes about something as ordinary, but also as exhausting as grief. She has played with magic before, not least in her previous youth novel “Battermusikk”, for which she received the Critics’ Prize. But Tronstad is not the kind of writer who writes the same book over and over again. It started with poems. This spring she came out with her first novel for adults. Each time she enters the project with an originality that is surprising. Beautiful in small and large So what does this originality consist of? This time it is the plot itself, the exciting build-up to whether it is possible to stop the unruly crush spirits that terrorize small families. It will turn out that Henry and his father are not alone in missing someone they have lost. Others in the town are also haunted by spirits who destroy everything nearby if the missing person’s name is mentioned. Tyra Teodora Tronstad makes the specific experience collective, she creates recognition and community. And community gives strength. Because it is not true that silence is golden. There is love in memories, and when memories are shared, love grows and becomes greater. At sentence level, Tronstad creates coherence in the narrative, without having to resort to long and elaborate descriptions. For example, she can write: Rage and fire in the first sentence, which ignites the next. Clever. But Tronstad is not clever for the sake of cleverness. There is a thought behind each sentence, and the sentences talk to each other. Tyra Teodora Tronstad impresses both in the large scale – where sentimentality could threaten to trivialize the entire heartfelt narrative, and in the small scale – where precisely words are woven together in an almost natural weave, but where painstaking work lies behind it. Tribute to nature Tyra Teodora Tronstad draws readers into a suspenseful story where you have to agree to the premise. A little patience is required to see that the different stories and people move in the same direction. If you are not one of those who know that adventure exists, in our midst, but would rather have order and order in the big conversation about emotions, this is not the book for you. The rest of us, who dare to believe that our dead still live in us, as long as we think about them and talk about them, can enjoy another magically good story by Tyra Teodora Tronstad. news reviewer Photo: Aschehoug publishing house Title: “Recipe against spirits that break things” Author: Tyra Teodora Tronstad Genre: Children’s novel, 9–13 years Publisher: Aschehoug Number of pages: 203 Date: October 2022
ttn-69
“Recipe against spirits that break things” by Tyra Teodora Tronstad – news Culture and entertainment
