DER HVOR DU IKKE VIL HEN – WHERE YOU DON’T WANT TO GO
By Astrid Saalbach
IN THE EARLY years of the twentieth century, Sigrid grows up sheltered in a prosperous, affectionate family, her childhood illuminated by the presence of her young aunt Anna—a restless, magnetic figure to whom she becomes deeply attached.
WHEN ANNA SUFFERS a devastating heartbreak, she turns her back on everything familiar and vanishes north, reinventing herself in Greenland at the outbreak of World War I. What draws her to that distant land of ice and light, of isolation and promise, remains a mystery to those she leaves behind.
FROM THE VAST, unforgiving landscapes of Greenland, Anna’s choices send ripples back to Denmark, shaping destinies across oceans and generations. In a place where survival depends on silence, endurance, and adaptation, lives are altered in ways that cannot be undone.
ANNA’S ENCOUNTER WITH Greenland proves fateful—not only for herself, but for Sigrid as well. Though separated by distance and circumstance, their lives remain bound together, unfolding along paths as unpredictable and powerful as the land that first pulled them apart.
ABOUT THE BOOK
First published by Lindhardt og Ringhof, Denmark 2020
RIGHTS SOLD
Denmark, Gutkind
REVIEWS
“A masterful family saga.”
– Jyllands-Posten, five star review
“Astrid Saalbach is a brilliant storyteller.”
– Dagbladenes Bureau, five star review
“The intertwined fates of two women are superbly portrayed.”
– Information
“A powerful story of adoration and hatred.”
– Politiken, four star review
“On her journey through the 20th century, [Astrid Saalbach] creates a sort of cavalcade of oppression, featuring images of a bourgeois, narrow-minded condemnation of female frivolity.”
– Berlingske, four star review
“A captivating family saga with vivid period depictions of two women’s fates and women’s opportunities—or lack thereof—in the first half of the 20th century.”
– Litteratursiden.dk
“Astrid Saalbach’s new novel is a reading experience of the very highest order.”
– bogpusheren.dk, five star review
BOOKS
Fiction
