Virtual Book Talk: The Sixteen Trees of the Somme with Lars Mytting

On April 12, join us for a book talk with bestselling Norwegian author Lars Mytting on The Sixteen Trees of the Somme! With moderator Paul Russell Garrett, he’ll discuss his engrossing new literary novel about a family mystery, revenge and forgiveness, out April 5 from The Overlook Press.

This intricately plotted new novel from the author of Norwegian Wood and The Bell in the Lake tells the story of Edvard, starting at his family’s farm in Norway, where he was raised by his grandfather. The death of Edvard’s parents when he was three has always been a mystery, but he knows that the fate of his grandfather’s brother, Einar, is somehow connected. One day, a coffin—a meticulous, beautiful, and unique piece of craftsmanship with the hallmarks of a certain master craftsman—is delivered to the farm for his grandfather, long before the grandfather’s death, raising the thought that maybe Einar isn’t dead after all. Edvard is then driven to unravel the mystery of his parents’ death. Following a trail of clues from Norway to the Shetland Islands to the battlefields of France and sixteen ancient walnut trees colored by poison gas during World War I, Edvard ultimately discovers a very unusual inheritance.

Winner of the Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize and longlisted for the Dublin Literary Prize, spanning a century and masterfully navigating themes of revenge and forgiveness, love and loneliness, The Sixteen Trees of the Somme displays the rich talents of Lars Mytting in a story that is utterly compelling and unforgettable.

This event will take place as a Zoom webinar. Registration is required at the link.

“Though the twists of discovery drive the plot, it is the intimacy with the natural world—as we might expect from the author of the phenomenally successful Norwegian Wood—that most compels us: potato-flowers, islets, storm petrels, walnut trees, and walnut wood” —The Times Literary Supplement

“Finely crafted . . . a mystery novel that fits together like a piece of fine marquetry”—The Guardian