Witches and birdwatchers, novel. Published by Cappelen Damm, September 2020.
About the book:
In Norway, 500 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, two worlds are about to collide…
Ragna Emanuelsen never had the luxury of asking herself what she wanted from life. A teenage pregnancy locked her into a routine of school runs, grocery shopping, and a marriage that has quietly fallen apart. Her husband Rune—a local football hero—is distant and perhaps hiding a truth she can no longer ignore.
Then comes the moment that changes everything.
A bizarre coincidence convinces Ragna that she may have healing powers. Desperate for meaning—and maybe a little magic—she joins a group tour led by a charismatic shaman to Vardø, a remote outpost on the edge of the Arctic, rumored to be one of the world’s most powerful energy points.
Meanwhile, Tor Hellebust is unraveling in a very different way. His marriage to Frida is on life support, maintained only by strained counseling sessions. His days are spent visiting his mother in a nursing home, watching her memories slip away.
But Tor has one last passion anchoring him: birds.
When he hears about a trip to Vardø, he sees his chance. Not for spiritual awakening, but to spot the nearly mythical cattle egret and finally complete a lifelong goal.
In Vardø, the seekers of spiritual power and the bird watchers find themselves thrown together in a landscape as wild and unforgiving as their own inner lives. As tensions rise, beliefs clash, and the absurd meets the profound, both groups are forced to confront what they’re really searching for.
Warm, funny, sharply observed, and original, Witches and Birdwatchers is a story about longing, identity, and the strange things we cling to when life doesn’t turn out the way we planned.
Sometimes, to find yourself, you have to travel to the end of the world.