EN NY TID – A CHANGE OF TIME

by Ida Jessen

A CHANGE OF TIME pieces together the life of a schoolteacher after her husband, the town doctor, passes away. Set in rural Denmark in the early 20th century, the narrator’s journal entries form an intimate portrait of a woman rebuilding her identity. Her thoughts unravel in sudden bursts, followed by quiet meditation or the rhythmic passing of days. She writes, “Memory is like a sieve. Everything runs through it,” and indeed Ida Jessen’s prose conveys the constant feeling of falling through a sieve, shaking each thought for its secret meaning. With a clear, unerring voice, the narrator gives the reader room to think and breathe. Ida Jessen’s every phrase swells with warmth and tenderness, turning over our deepest desires.

First published by Gyldendal, Denmark 2015 

Denmark, Gyldendal
Hungary, Metropolis Media
Spain, Errata Naturae
Swedish, Historiska Media
UK, Daunt Books
US, Archipelago

“Underplayed and poignant, Jessen’s heathland drama of obsession, dependence and unspoken love is propelled by unerring prose. It’s a cracking read.”
– Martin Aitken, translator

“Ida Jessen has written a formidable novel that thrives by virtue of strong women and a mysterious man. The plot is refined, and the intrigues tower high on the Jutlandic heath.”
– Politiken

“A monumental and historical epic with prairie poetry and pioneer spirit… Unusual and unusually fascinating.”
– Berlingske

“It is first and foremost a story about power, love and revenge and about a God-given world, where ‘life is as it should be’. Jessen allows her well-told and surprising story to progress slowly, planting seeds for the ultimate showdown along the way… With The Captain and Ann Barbara, [Jessen] has stepped back 250 years in time. However, there is also something completely current about it. Immigrants and hated population groups and the tensions that accompany them are only too well known today… Abuse of power has always been a scourge.”
– Kristeligt dagblad

Ida Jessen

BOOKS

Fiction