To Siberia

Reading a Petterson novel is like watching a master craftsman shape his art; not a word is out of place. In this, his predecessor to the Top 10 NYT bestseller Out Stealing Horses, Per Petterson depicts a desperately devoted sister and a brother growing up in a provincial Denmark town on the cusp of the German invasion. Abandoned emotionally by their pious mother and distant father, the two weave a web of fantasy: she dreams of Siberia (refusing to accept the existence of the prison camps) and he yearns for the warmth of Morocco. "My mother is velvet, my mother is iron. My father often stays silent and sometimes over dinner he picks up the burning hot pan by its iron handle and holds it until I have filled my plate, and when he puts it back I can see the red marks on his hand." That is how the female protagonist -- never identified and only referred to by her brother Jesper as "Sistermine" describes her home life. It becomes evident early on that she belongs to Jesper -- she comes fully alive only in his presence and through his adventurous spirit. There are searing images and rich characterizations that burn a place in the reader's psyche like the hot iron in Jesper's father's hands. One of the first is the drunken grandfather, hanging himself in the heavy darkness of the cowshed, while the cows slowly shift in their stalls. There are the twin rescues performed by Sistermine: first, the rescue of Jesper, who nearly drowns in a freak accident when his boot gets stuck in a lump of tar while diving between two boulders, and later, the reluctant rescue of a young German soldier, who is showing off and nearly dies as he makes the leap into unfamiliar waters. Then there is the cold gaze of Gestapo Jorgensen -- a local Nazi sympathizer -- who malevolently slaps Sistermine as she seeks to protect the whereabouts of Jesper who works with the resistance movement. Each of these images interweave until the reader is snared into Petterson's emotionally desolate northern landscape. The last third of the book (it is divided into three parts) introduces a grown Sistermine and to this reader, does not have the powerful resonance of the first two-thirds. Sistermine without Jesper seems curiously flat. But this exquisite book, wondrously translated by Ann Born, who also deserves much credit, is definitely a 5-star read. In its own way, it's nearly as beautifully written as Out Stealing Horses.

This is one of those spare little novels that you read in a couple hours, and then it stays with you a while...like, forever. The setting is beautifully invoked- you can hear gulls cry and feel the cutting wind off the sea. The unnamed heroin is an unforgetable character- part plucky kid sister "Littless" from Hemmingway's Nick Adams stories, part Mersault from "The Stranger", and a good bit of Scout Finch from "To Kill a Mockingbird" (but imagine Scout older, wised-up, and struggling to deal with MUCH more complicated feelings for her brother) By the close, male readers will wish they could insinuate their way into the pages, and take a shot at rescuing "Sistermine" from herself. But, it's hopeless- she's found Siberia all right. A bleak, haunting story of love and loss.

I was swept away by Per Petterson's outstanding novel, "Out Stealing Horses" and I was literally waiting at the door for the UPS driver to deliver this latest release. I was not disappointed! However, this not an easy read and it took me a little longer to get thru this story than normal, but it was well worth the trouble. This is not your ordinary "coming of age" novel, but pure poetry in the way the author can put words to paper to make the reader actually feel like you're right there with that cold Scandinavian wind blowing in your face. Like another reviewer stated, there are some loose ends in the story but it's my feeling that Mr. Petterson intends to leave those ends hanging in order to let the reader put their own personal feelings into play as to the how's and why's of what he's trying to tell us. I highly recommend this book and although it sometimes seems to drag at the beginning, stick with it, savor every word because you will not be disappointed when you finish this gem.

This beautiful, haunting coming-of-age tale set in wartime (WWII) Denmark is a rarity in contemporary fiction. Petterson builds character and place so quietly that at first you (being a contemporary reader) may want more, but in part 2, when the German army invades and the plot kicks in, you'll be glad for it; in the end the payoff is immense. Give it a shot, and the time; you won't regret it -- particularly those of you in the States, where the book is unavailable.