A review by bucket
The House with the Blind Glass Windows by Herbjørg Wassmo

4.0

My heart ached the whole time I read this novel - for Tora especially but also for her mother, for her aunt, for her friend Sol and Sol's mother. These women do not have easy lives, but Tora's burden is most difficult to bear. She's just 11, but she is abused both sexually and physically by her stepfather, her mother puts up an invisible wall of sorrow and silence, and she is an outcast because her father was a German soldier (the novel takes place in post-World War II Sweden).

The early pages of the novel are a bit choppy as various characters are introduced and background information is shared, but it soon settles into a good rhythm with Tora at the forefront. The ending is exceptional - Tora's waking dreams and nightmares are palpable and visceral. Absolutely deserves its international reknown.

This is the first in a trilogy about Tora, but I'm not certain the other two novels have been translated - I'll have to check into it.

Themes: Sweden, girl coming of age, violence/abuse, poverty, winter, women, female solidarity, post-WW2, Nordic literature