The Child - Paperback

by Kjersti A. Skomsvold (Author), Martin Aitken (Translator)

A young mother speaks to her second born child. Since the drama of childbirth, all feels calm. The world is new and full of surprises, even though dangers lurk behind every corner; a car out of control, disease ever-present in the air, the unforgiving speed of time.

She tells of the times before the child was born, when the world felt unsure and enveloped in darkness, of long nights with an older lover, of her writing career and the precariousness of beginning a relationship and then a family with her husband, Bo.

A portrait of modern motherhood, The Child is a love story about what it means to be alive and stay alive, no matter how hard the journey.

Author Biography

Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold made a sensational debut with The Faster I Walk, the Smaller I Am, published by Dalkey Press in English. The book won the Vesaas First Book Award, was shortlisted for the IMPAC Prize and has been sold to publishers in more than 25 countries. She is the author of four acclaimed novels, a book of poetry and a children's book.

Martin Aitken is the translator of numerous novels from Danish and, most recently, Norwegian and Swedish, including works by Peter Høeg, Ida Jessen, Kim Leine, Hanne Ørstavik, and Karl Ove Knausgaard. His translations of short stories and poetry have appeared in many literary journals and magazines. In 2012 he was awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation's Nadia Christensen Translation Prize. He lives and works in Denmark.