Child Wonder

Translated from the original Norwegian by Don Bartlett and Don Shaw

2013 Longlist

Nine-year-old Finn and his mother find comfort in each other’s company as they struggle to get by in a working-class suburb of Oslo. But when a half sister Finn never knew joins the household, their familiar routines are upset. Finn takes the girl under his wing over an idyllic summer on an island in Oslofjord, but he can’t understand why everyone thinks his new sister is so different from other children. Nor can he fathom his mother’s painful secret, one that pushes them ever further apart. As summer comes to a close, Finn must attempt to grasp the incomprehensible adult world and his place within it. Told in Finn’s irrepressible voice, Child Wonder is a powerful and unsentimental portrait of childhood.

(From Publisher)

About the Author

Roy Jacobsen is one of the most celebrated and influential contemporary writers in Norway. He is the author of several works of fiction, most recently The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles, which was short-listed for the Dublin IMPAC Award

Librarian’s Comments

A book about the wonders of being a child – and the dangerous experience of growing up. From Oslo. Quiet and lovely.