- Hardcover: 455 pages
- Publisher: Arcade Publishing (April 7 1994)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1559702435
- ISBN-13: 978-1559702430
- Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 16.2 x 3.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 925 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #586,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Set in mid-19th century Norway and infused with Scandinavian-style magical realism, this spellbinding novel calls to mind Eliot's Middlemarch and the film Babette's Feast. Willful Dina's character is shaped by her involvement in the grisly accident that kills her mother, after which she temporarily loses the power of speech and permanently distances herself from the strictures of upper-class life in remote, sub-Arctic Nordland. Wild and unmanageable, Dina is sent from home soon after the accident to be raised in a poor cotter's family. She remains mute for several years, until she returns to her father's house where she is taken in hand by a tutor who teaches her music and mathematics. At age 15, Dina is married off to Jacob, a wealthy older landowner. After Jacob's unexpected death (in another accident in which Dina plays a part), his forceful, unconventional widow takes over his estate, bending its people to her will. Though beset by ghosts and a nearly papable grief, Dina proves to be a survivor. Insightful, memorable characterizations, coupled with spare, unadorned prose, move the haunting narrative swiftly to its enigmatic finish. Wassmo was named "The Author of the Eighties" by Norwegian booksellers; she also won the prestigious Nordic Council Literature Prize. 25,000 first printing.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The fine line between sanity and insanity is tested in this riveting novel of 19th-century Norway. Dina feels rejection and guilt for, at age five, having accidentally caused her mother's death. As a willful tomboy, she is married off at age 16 to a man her father's age. After he teaches her the joys of sexuality and wine, he dies suddenly and mysteriously. Widowed and pregnant, Dina becomes actively involved in the management of her husband's ample estate, though she is now haunted by two ghosts. When a Russian wanderer dips in and out of her life, she becomes a woman obsessed. Though the focus of the book is on Dina's character, the setting is vividly portrayed, and the action brings one surprise after another. The author is winner of the Nordic Council Prize. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.
- Ann Irvine, Montgomery Cty. P.L., Md.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Ann Irvine, Montgomery Cty. P.L., Md.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
You are unlikely to forget Dina,
By
This review is from: Dina's Book (Paperback)
Dina's story begins with the untimely and tragic death of her wealthy and much older husband. Set in Norway in the mid-nineteenth century, Dina's life is from an early age, fraught with tragedy. Her mother is killed in a freak accident when Dina is five, and in his grief her father sends her off to live with another family. Dina returns wild, unruly, and most unlike the women of her day. She is married off at sixteen to a friend of her father's, a wealthy land owner named Jacob. Her life as the new mistress of the estate is tempetuous to say the least. No one really seems to understand Dina, and few are able to get close to her. After her husband's death, Dina realizes she is pregnant, and so adds the duty of mother to the responsibilities of running the businesses of the estate.Dina's trials and tribulations make for very interesting reading. Dina however is not an easy character to sympathize with. So while I ultimately enjoyed this well written novel, I never warmed to Dina(quite the opposite in fact). She may not be a particularly likeable character, but she is a memorable one.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Strong book about a strong woman,
By Britt Arnhild Lindland (Norway) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dina's Book (Paperback)
Herbjørg Wassmo is a Norwegian writer writing about Norwegian people. Her characters are always strong and Dina is no exeption. This book is one of the best I have ever read...Herbjørg Wassmo has a fantastic, colorful language, and as soon as you are drawn into this small North Norway community of the 1900th century you will stay there through the book and still for a long time after the book is finished. The book is not at all an easy beach read, but you should give yourself the opportunity to read the book. It will change you as a person. Britt Arnhild Lindland
4.0 out of 5 stars
Difficult to put down once you have started,
By
This review is from: Dina's Book (Paperback)
As a teenager the self-willed Dina is married off to the much older merchant Jacob Gronelv of Reisnes. As a child she was responsible for the death of her mother and she carries this burden with her. After the, again unnatural, death of her husband she reigns over trading post Reisnes. She does not behave like a women, but she is still respected and accepted by the others. She is not capable of real love until the mysterious Russian Leo arrives, but this love also ends tragically.The book Dina give a beautiful description of the the rough life in northern Norway during the 19th century. It also gives an magnificent impression of a strong woman who cannot or does not want to adapt. A book that is difficult to put down once one has started reading.
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