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Novel 11, Book 18
Novel 11, Book 18
Jan 13, 2026 10:05 PM

Author:Dag Solstad,Sverre Lyngstad

Novel 11, Book 18

WINNER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY'S NORDIC PRIZE 2017

'He’s a kind of surrealistic writer... I think that’s serious literature' Haruki Murakami

‘An utterly hypnotic and utterly humane writer’ James Wood

'Without question Norway's bravest, most intelligent novelist' Per Petterson

'Dag Solstad serves up another helping of his wan and wise almost-comedy' Geoff Dyer

'He doesn’t write to please other people. Do exactly what you want, that’s my idea...the drama exists in his voice' Lydia Davis

Bjørn Hansen, a respectable town treasurer, has just turned fifty and is horrified by the thought that chance has ruled his life. Eighteen years ago he left his wife and their two-year-old son for his mistress, who persuaded him to start afresh in a small, provincial town and to dabble in amateur dramatics. But as time passes, this relationship begins to wilt and die as well.

After four years of living comfortably alone, Bjørn starts entertaining a dangerous course of action that will change his life beyond recognition. This urge to gamble with his comfortable existence becomes irresistible, taking Bjørn to Vilnius, Lithuania, with Dr Schiøtz his fellow conspirator, where he cannot tell whether he’s tangled up in a game or an absurd new reality.

Reviews

In the intriguingly titled Novel 11, Book 18 Norwegian writer Dag Solstad serves up another helping of his wan and wise almost-comedy.

—— Geoff Dyer , Observer

He doesn’t write to please other people. Do exactly what you want, that’s my idea...the drama exists in his voice, in his comments and views, and that works, it helps connect the reader to the story

—— Lydia Davis

Bleak, funny, brilliantly observed

—— The Times

Unexpectedly moving...a wry, fantastic book

—— Books of The Year , Irish Times

Brilliant and subtle... What matters is Solstad's dedicated application to the mysteries of human conduct and relations that his town treasurer illustrates

—— Independent

The existential novel is alive and well... Solstad has a dry and bleakly comic style

—— Daily Telegraph

Solstad is a masterful investigator of human thought and behaviour, and, like the inside of anyone’s head, this novel is in turns funny, mournful, quizzical and insightful. And a real pleasure to read.

—— Jane Graham , Big Issue

If I could write something a tenth as funny as this I would die happy.

—— Emma Beddington, author of We’ll Always Have Paris

Soulful, ambitious and deeply felt.. A first work of fiction to marvel at and then savor. This is a serious young writer in full command of her craft

—— Tom Barbash, author of 'Stay Up With Me'

This fun, super-readable breath of fresh air had us completely hooked

—— Fabulous magazine, Sun on Sunday

Kinsella at her put-a-smile-on-your-face best

—— Good Housekeeping

A warm-hearted comedy about appreciating what really matters in life

—— Sunday Mirror

I'm a huge fan of Kinsella . . . This is a highly enjoyable romp

—— Sara Lawrence, Daily Mail

A captivating story, full of heart.

—— Good Housekeeping

a powerful book and a cautionary tale... it's also a touching celebration of human determination in the overcoming of adversity.

—— Press Association

Darkly funny debut

—— Radio Times

Funny and warm, heartbreaking too. Impressive debut!

—— Claire Allan

emotional, raw, deeply moving and…funny too

—— The Scotsman

...a really rather good YA crossover ... while Khorsandi's novel tackles some pretty big subjects, it does so while making you laugh out loud

—— Metro

I really couldn’t put this book down. It’s not just for young people but if you have a teenage daughter, please make her read it.

—— The Sun

I am loving Shappi Khorsandi's Nina is Not OK, she is making me care about 'Nina' so much that I get anxious on her behalf

—— Jenny Eclair

Thematically taut and compulsively paced.

—— Edmund Gordon , Sunday Times

A very good novel of anxiety, embarrassment and also, somehow, the depths of Englishness.

—— Evening Standard

Marvellous, original and intelligent. Kunzru writes like a master storyteller... There's simply nothing [he] couldn't manage in prose

—— Literary Review

Publisher's description. Electrifying, subversive and wildly original, White Tears is a ghost story and a love story, a story about lost innocence and historical guilt. This unmissable novel penetrates the heart of a nation's darkness, encountering a suppressed history of greed, envy, revenge and exploitation, and holding a mirror up to the true nature of America today.

—— Penguin

Compulsively readable, masterly - a tour de force

—— Rachel Kushner

Riveting from the very first page, I was completely addicted... A literary thriller and a timely, unsparing excavation of the very real spectre of race in America's past and present. White Tears is proof that Kunzru is one of the finest novelists of his generation...

—— Mirza Waheed

Hari Kunzru is an incredibly versatile writer who is alert to the inequalities in the world... Powerful and complex, White Tears is a novel about abuses of wealth and power. Brilliantly orchestrated, unforgettable and devastating

—— Bernardine Evaristo

Hari Kunzru is one of our most important novelists

—— Independent on Sunday

Kunzru's engagingly wired prose and agile plotting sweep all before them

—— New Yorker

Elizabeth Strout's My Name is Lucy Barton shouldn't work, but its frail texture was a triumph of tenderness, and sent me back to her excellent Olive Kitteridge

—— Cressida Connolly , The Spectator

A rich account of a relationship between mother and daughter, the frailty of memory and the power of healing

—— Mark Damazer , New Statesman

This physically slight book packs an unexpected emotional punch

—— Simon Heffer , Daily Telegraph

A novel offering more hope

—— Daisy Goodwin , Daily Mail

My Name Is Lucy Barton intrigues and pierces with its evocative, skin-peeling back remembrances of growing up dirt-poor.

—— Ann Treneman , The Times

Masterly

—— Anna Murphy
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