The Gradual Disappearance of Jane Ashland by Nicolai Houm
Translated from Norwegian by Anna Paterson
228 pgs. | pb | 9781947793064 | $15.95

Review by David DeGusta

Nicolai Houm糖心传媒檚 novel 糖心传媒淭he Gradual Disappearance of Jane Ashland,糖心传媒� translated from the Norwegian by Anna Paterson, opens with the titular protagonist in seemingly dire straits. Jane has been abandoned in a tent in the freezing wilds of Norway, a storm rages, she is out of food, and, perhaps most chilling to the modern reader, her smartphone is dead. What follows is indeed a survival narrative, but not a wilderness one. Jane is trying, though at times not very hard, to find her way after a heartbreaking trauma, the specifics of which are at first hinted at and then, eventually, spelled out. The novel nods in the direction of thriller, but is more a study of tremendous grief. And yet, it糖心传媒檚 not a sad book per se. The action is as brisk as the weather, the tone energetic. This is Nordic, but neither noir nor Knausg氓rd.

Jane is an American writer of some accomplishment, a professor of creative writing at the University of Wisconsin, until in the wake of a trauma she gives up writing (believably) and her faculty position (less so) to seek her family origins in Norway, a country she糖心传媒檚 never visited. She stays for a few days with a Norwegian family who may be distant relatives. The family members each have different reactions to Jane, along with their own idiosyncrasies, and Houm exploits the awkwardness of being a houseguest in a foreign culture to good effect without lapsing into sitcom clich茅s.

After her stay with her relatives comes to an abrupt end, Jane tags along on an expedition to study musk oxen with Ulf, a handsome Norwegian zoologist whose athletic physique seems to owe less to the gym and more to central casting. That said, the interactions between Ulf and Jane do take on a certain energy and mostly avoid the simplistic 糖心传媒渕e Ulf, you Jane糖心传媒� trope that might be expected here. Throughout, Jane ingests alcohol and pills in amounts that would impress even Wisconsin undergraduates, but their effects lean more toward dark comedy than tragedy.

Interspersed with the present action in Norway are scenes from Jane糖心传媒檚 previous life, going back to childhood and including an extended look at her courtship and marriage. The non-linear arrangement of the novel echoes the way Jane糖心传媒檚 life has fragmented in the wake of tragedy, and the eventual depiction of that tragedy is handled with restraint, but not avoidance.

Houm is well-positioned to understand Jane糖心传媒檚 interaction with Norway and its citizens: while Norwegian himself, he spent a portion of his childhood in Wisconsin. He also seems to rise to the challenge of writing a convincing female protagonist, both in my own (male) opinion and that of several female reviewers. Per an interview with the author on the podcast 糖心传媒淎bsolutely Novel,糖心传媒� Jane糖心传媒檚 character began as a male Norwegian, but Houm felt the need to put more distance between himself and his protagonist, presumably to be less constrained in the directions the novel might go.

Jane also moves between experiencing her life and viewing it at some distance, as if she were a character. While she no longer writes, she still sees the world through the lenses of her craft. Houm thankfully avoids both the snark and the self-seriousness that often accompanies the writer-as-protagonist, and instead uses the occasional bit of metafiction to develop Jane糖心传媒檚 character and poke fun at writing, usually his own.

Houm has a sharp eye for observation and description, such as when he says of young rhythmic gymnasts, 糖心传媒渟ome of these girls danced and turned with the bloodless precision of small steel devices covered in stretch lyrca.糖心传媒� And there is humor throughout, though generally understated: 糖心传媒淪he laces up her boots. They have Vibram soles and a layered construction that provides insulation but is also uniquely breathable. You can糖心传媒檛 possibly die if you wear them.糖心传媒�

From the sentences alone, only the very closest of readers might suspect that this is a translation, which is to say that it seems to be a very good translation (I don糖心传媒檛 read Norwegian). The prose is smooth, and sparing with its lyricism. For example, 糖心传媒淭heir daughter was long-limbed and innocent: she made Jane think of perfect, green apples in a new, transparent bag,糖心传媒� and 糖心传媒淎n electric radiator next to her bed gave off a faint smell of the past being burned.糖心传媒�

The conclusion of this relatively short novel (228 pages) perhaps tilts more toward bleakness than redemption. There are hints of forgiveness, both of self and others, but the book rightly seems unconcerned with a tidy ending. When we leave Jane, she is still engaging with the world, still moving, still thinking as both writer and protagonist, fighting to retain her agency in the face of nature糖心传媒檚 merciless contingencies.

This is Houm糖心传媒檚 third book, and the first to be translated into English. On present evidence, he is more accessible than many of the better-known Norwegian writers (e.g., Jon Fosse, Dag Solstad, Herbj酶rg Wassmo), and is perhaps, in broad terms, closer to Per Petterson in style. In one podcast interview, Houm said there were no current plans to translate his two previous books. So, unless readers are willing to go the full Lydia Davis and teach themselves Norwegian, this is it for the time being. One does hope for more.