The Unseen cover art

The Unseen

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2017

 Preview
Free with 30-day trial
Prime logo New to Audible Prime Member exclusive:
2 credits with free trial
1 credit a month to use on any title to download and keep
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks
Download titles to your library and listen offline
₹199.00 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

The Unseen

Written by: Roy Jacobsen, Don Bartlett - translator, Don Shaw - translator
Narrated by: Rachael Beresford
Free with 30-day trial

₹199.00 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for ₹649.64

Buy Now for ₹649.64

Barrøy Island off the North-western coast of Norway - a holdfast for a single family, their livestock, their crops, their hopes and dreams. And their fears. There is a taint passed down the Barrøy line, and Hans and Maria Barrøy fear their daughter Ingrid may be affected.

The early years of the twentieth century prove that Norway cannot stand apart from the wider world - no more than Barrøy island can remain at a remove from the rest of Norway. Hans Barrøy decides to build a quay so that his family can be properly connected to the mainland and with neighbouring islands.

In time, Ingrid is sent to serve with one of the rich families on the coast, caring for their two children. But when tragedy strikes - twice in quick succession - she finds herself responsible not only for two newly orphaned children, but for Barrøy Island itself. If they are to survive, she and the other young must learn how to tame this remote earthly paradise for themselves.

(P)2016 W F Howes Ltd©2013 Cappelen Damm AS * Europe Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Sea Adventures Small Town & Rural
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic Reviews

Even by his high standards, his magnificent new novel The Unseen is Jacobsen's finest to date, as blunt as it is subtle and is easily among the best books I have ever read. (Eileen Battersby)
A beautifully crafted novel . . . Quite simply a brilliant piece of work . . . Rendered beautifully into English by Don Bartlett and Don Shaw, The Unseen is a towering achievement that would be a deserved Booker International winner. (Charlie Connolly)
A profound interrogation of freedom and fate, as well as a fascinating portrait of a vanished time, written in prose as clear and washed clean as the world after a storm. (Justine Jordan)
The subtle translation, with its invented dialect, conveys a timeless, provincial voice . . . The Unseen is a blunt, brilliant book. (Tom Graham)
A modern masterpiece . . . A central novel in Norwegian literature.
This is simply a beautiful and moving read . . . A master's hand turning the small into the great.
Roy Jacobsen at his very best . . . A fantastic novel.
Jacobsen's lyrical voice has been gorgeously translated into English by Don Bartlett and Don Shaw (Misha Hoekstra)
This beautifully atmospheric novel, set on a small island off Norway, where weather and the power of the sea shape lives, is a compelling story of one family, generations of which have lived on the island that bears the family name. (Books of the Year)
A beautiful and rich depiction of place and of family life . . . an outstanding achievement.
No reviews yet