Resin

Translated from the Danish by Charlotte Barslund

2020 Longlist

Liv died when she was just six years old. Her father knew he was the only one who could keep her safe in this world. So, one evening he left the isolated house his little family called home, he pushed their boat out to sea and watched it ruin on the rocks. Then he walked the long way into town to report his only child missing.

But behind the boxes and the baskets crowding her Dad’s workshop, Liv was hiding. This way her Dad had said, she’d never have to go to school; this way, she’d never have to leave her parents. This way, Liv would be safe.

Suspenseful and heart-breaking, Resin is the story of what can happen when you love someone too much – when your desire to keep them safe becomes the thing that could irrevocably harm them.

About the Author

Ane Riel has won Scandinavia’s four most prestigious literary awards including Best Crime Novel from the Swedish Crime Writer’s Academy and The Harald Mogensen Award for her novel Resin which has been a bestseller around the world.

Librarian’s Comments

The curious tale about the Haarder family, who live isolated from the world around them among an incomprehensible amount of odds and ends is nominated to the award because of its unique way of telling a story about a life, which on the one hand is filled with losses, sorrow and calamities, but also over flooded with love and care. The novel is told through the little girl in the family and through the eyes of the child everything is different.  The author induces to create a language which normally is reserved for children’s literature. A language where the grotesque and wretched are described with a naivety and movingly logical way of looking at the world. A brilliant and complete novel. Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker, Denmark