Description

The narrator of this novel is a Norwegian writer living in Milan. A year has passed since the premature death of her Italian husband. She falls in love. M is seventeen years younger than her, but the connection between them is intense and of a kind she has never felt before. Then, as his vulnerability starts showing, so does his troubling rage. She knows this rage. It was always present in her childhood, and it created an all-encompassing fear in her.

In Stay with Me, Hanne Orstavik returns to her theme of love, this time exploring how it can be intertwined with insecurity, fear and violence. How do you recognise love, if fear is the feeling you know?

‘Soul-searching on speed. Orstavik writes with such distressing courage that as a reader, you become sweaty-palmed. Stay with Me is Hanne Orstavik at her very best; so intense and profound that the unease becomes contagious . . . Above all, she conveys a spiritual openness that feels naked and vibrantly intense.’ Dagbladet

Publisher Review

‘Soul-searching on speed. Orstavik writes with such distressing courage that as a reader, you become sweaty-palmed. Stay with Me is Hanne Orstavik at her very best; so intense and profound that the unease becomes contagious . . . Above all, she conveys a spiritual openness that feels naked and vibrantly intense.’ Dagbladet ‘Orstavik demonstrates how a complicated relationship to a father can create patterns that are difficult to break free from or navigate later in life. The story of the relationship with M, which she enters into after her husband’s death, is among the best she has written.’ Aftenposten ‘After finishing her novel Stay with Me, I think that she is the love theorist we need right now. The book makes me think, it disturbs me, stimulates me, affirms me.’ Vinduet ‘Orstavik continues her honest and heartfelt explorations of the innermost chambers . . In Orstavik’s delicate, almost luminous prose, it becomes relevant and alive. Orstavik shows us how long the journey to the innermost chamber can be; it can take a lifetime to get there. She handles the difficult subject matter with great care, and with this completely open attitude that makes you almost dizzy while reading.’ Dag og Tid ‘Orstavik’s body of work is among the most distinctive and literarily rewarding we have in Norwegian, something Stay with Me fully underscores.’Bjorn Ivar Fyksen, Klassekampen, The 3 best books of 2023 ‘”What loves are we meant to live?” Orstavik asks in her thoughtful novel about unsafe relationships. Orstavik’s descriptions of what fear does to a person are subtle but powerful.’ Vart Land ‘Orstavik has always been an author with a finely tuned interest in the complex emotional lives of people. So it is this time as well. Orstavik writes, as usual, with high internal pressure, what is often referred to as ‘necessity’.” VG ‘A furious love story. Orstavik has a unique ability to shift perspectives, so that we see the vulnerability in the father and in the young lover. Constantly articulated through precise metaphors, Orstavik turns us all into sensitivity readers – both in the literal sense and in the best sense of the word.’ NRK ‘A powerful portrayal of male rage. Hanne Orstavik reports from the borderland between fear and love, life and fiction. The fragmentary, disjointed form embodies an author-narrator trying to figure something out, while the extreme proximity to the material breathes life into the descriptions of difficult love.’ Dagens Naeringsliv ‘Orstavik is clearer and bolder than ever. She is daring in her choice of artistic devices and also demonstrates in Stay with Me that she can effortlessly expand the literary space by incorporating other art forms.’ Dagsavisen ‘Orstavik’s willingness to engage with what the outside world considers distant, illegal, or ridiculous is indomitable and invaluable.’ Morgenbladet