“The Unseen” and “White Shadow” by Roy Jacobsen
During the Spring lockdown I caught up on reading one book which I had put aside and never managed to pick up and read. This was by the Norwegian prize winning author Roy Jacobsen, entitled “The Unseen” it is the story of the childhood, and early life of Ingrid Barroy who lives on an island that carries her family name, and is located amongst the islands along the northern coast of Norway, Tromso being the local regional town.
The setting alone makes this book a worthwhile read. The characters within Ingrid’s family are somewhat diverse, and their forays across the sea to get provisions, and her father’s yearly fishing trips are the main diversions from this family saga. To use the word “saga” however is wrong as this story is about Ingrid growing up and becoming a capable islander who can fish, farm, and row as well as anyone, indeed all the women have to be very diverse with their skills.
Within “The Unseen” we are witness to her early life, schooling, and how her island home instills early responsibility and adulthood onto her young shoulders. This is set after the First World War without ever being time specific.
In the second volume, “White Shadow,” Ingrid is a young woman in her thirties, WW2 is in full fight, and Norway is suffering under Nazi cruelty and repression. Ingrid is alone on the island until following naval action bodies start being washed up, and she finds a lifeboat and eventually a survivor who she rescues and saves. They become lovers but she is unaware whether he is a Russian or a German or what nationality; but in helping him evade local Nazis and collaborators, leads her in to endure much suffering. It is the story of those experiences after her brief affair, and her subsequent return to her island which provides the depth to this sequel. The war brings refugees, hardship, but also ambition, and as peace dawns, and the Norwegians try to rebuild their country, we experience Ingrid’s and her family’s reemergence into times of peace.
The third volume, “Eyes of the Rigel” is now out, but only in hardback, I will not delay in reading that to see how Ingrid’s life evolves. I am so glad I picked up “The Unseen”, which I enjoyed, but in some respects I found “White Shadow” the better story, possibly as there is less dialogue which does require some careful reading, but please do not be put off by that, two good books, worth reading in sequence.
