The Bell in the Lake by Lars Mytting – Online Nordic Book Club

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. Discussions have typically taken place the last Tuesday of the month at Scandinavia House but will now be taking place bi-weekly as an online meeting. Register here to sign up for the meeting; registrants will receive a web link to where the meeting will take place.

Book club participants will all appear online at the start of the meeting when they log in so that they are able to take part in the conversation. For participants who would prefer not to be visible onscreen, see an easy tutorial online here on how to set a profile image that will appear onscreen instead.

On October 20, we’ll be discussing the Norwegian bestseller The Bell in the Lake by Lars Mytting, who joined us for an online conversation about the book on October 1.

For as long as people can remember, the stave church’s bells have rung over the isolated village of Butangen, Norway: cast in memory of conjoined twins, the bells are said to ring on their own in times of danger. When in 1879, young pastor Kai Schweigaard moves to the village, young Astrid Hekne  sees a way into a much yearned-for modern life on the arm of the new pastor, who needs a tie to the community to cull favor for his plan for the old stave church, with its pagan deity effigies and supernatural bells. But when the pastor makes a deal that brings an outsider — a sophisticated German architect — into their world, the village and Astrid are caught between past and future, as dark forces come into play.

Lars Mytting, bestselling author of Norwegian Wood, brings his deep knowledge of history, carpentry, fishing, and stave churches to this compelling historical novel, an international bestseller sold in 12 countries. With its broad-canvas narrative about the intersection of religion, superstition, and duty, The Bell in the Lake  is an irresistible story of ancient times and modern challenges.