Online Nordic Book Club: The Land of Short Sentences

Read and discuss Scandinavian literature in translation as part of our Nordic Book Club, now online! Each month we select a novel from some of the best Nordic literary voices. On July 12, we’ll be discussing The Land of Short Sentences by Danish author Stine Pilgaard, who recently joined us with translator Hunter Simpson in a virtual book talk streaming here.

In The Land of Short Sentences, out in English translation on March 1 from World Editions, a young woman relocates to an outlying community in West Jutland, Denmark, and is forced to find her way — not only in the bewildering environment of the residential Folk High School where her partner has been hired to teach, but also in the inscrutable conversational forms of the local population. And on top of it all there’s the small matter of juggling her roles as mother to a newborn baby and advice columnist in the local newspaper.

In this understated and hilarious novel, Stine Pilgaard conjures a tale of venturing into new and uncharted land, of human relationships, dilemmas, and the ways and byways of social intercourse.

“A charming and funny novel. … The buzz of people coming and going through the pages, and the warmth and wit of the narrator’s voice, make it a pleasure to be in her company”—The Guardian