Book Review: Near Distance by Hanna Stoltenberg

A tale of widening space between a mother and a daughter

Near Distance by Hanna Stoltenberg

Near Distance is a tale of widening space between a mother and a daughter as they navigate their disparate lives. The mother, solitary and single; the daughter; a precarious marriage with two young children.

They both share an incessant restlessness within them, as if searching for something more in the spaces we call living. Karin is a spectator in her daughter's life, touching from a distance; encapsulated perfectly when she tags along for drinks with Helene's friends in London: 'Karin feels like a voyeur, someone who doesn't belong there'. Karin muses that Helene is akin to someone who's adrift, and all she wants to do is to save her.

Nothing really happens in Near Distance. Nothing except everything, as the gaps between those who we love widen and we teeter on the edge. There is something extremely disheartening about this novel. I wouldn't describe it as an enjoyable read, more unnerving - it's a mirror held forcibly aloft, and more often than not we don't like what we see.

Near Distance was first published as 'Nada' in Norway in 2019, and won the Tarjej Vesaas' debutant prize.

Now translated from the Norwegian by Wendy H. Gabrielsen and set to be published in the UK by Weatherglass Books. A big thanks to Neil at Weatherglass Books for the advance copy.