Summer of Ellen, The - Hardcover

Friis, Agnete

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1616959959 ISBN 13: 9781616959951

Publisher: Soho Press, 2019

Synopsis

Jacob, a middle-aged architect living in Copenhagen, is in the alcohol-soaked throes of a bitter divorce when he receives an unexpected call from his great-uncle Anton, who is in his nineties and still lives with his brother Anders on their rural Jutland farm - a place Jacob hasn't visited since the summer of 1978. Anton asks Jacob to answer the question that has haunted them both for decades: What happened to Ellen? To find out, Jacob must revisit the farm and confront what took place that summer - one defined by his teenage obsession with Ellen, a beautiful young hippie from the local commune who came to stay with Anton and Anders, and the unsolved disappearance of Jacob's classmate's sister. In revisiting old friends and rivals, Jacob discovers that the tragedies that have haunted him for over forty years were not what they seemed.

About this title

Review:

A CrimeReads Most Anticipated Crime & Mystery Novel of 2019

Praise for The Summer of Ellen

"This is a beautifully written book, descriptive, atmospheric and carefully woven . . . Alfred Hitchcock once said that a thriller is a whodunit, an intellectual process, but suspense is an emotional one. Friis knows this--and slowly, slowly takes us by the hand and draws us into a seductive, and dangerous, summer."
--NPR

"Absorbing . . . Ms. Friis holds us spellbound, watching in grim fascination."
--The Wall Street Journal

"An atmospheric psychological journey."
--Mystery Scene Magazine

"A character study wrapped around a novel of suspense, with every blade of grass, every whispering tree, beautifully painting a picture of both longing and desolation."
--Bustle

"Friis offers up a spellbinding mystery totally in step the growing dialog about toxic masculinity and the price we all pay for indulging it . . . It's a deep dive into dark places."
--Barnes & Noble

"Set against the lush Danish farmland of the '70s, a hippie commune, and modern-day Copenhagen, The Summer of Ellen is a richly drawn, uncompromising tale about Jacob's desperate journey grappling with a forty-year-old mystery from his toxic adolescence. I couldn't put it down."
--Cara Black, New York Times bestselling author of the Aimée Leduc mysteries

"Agnete Friis knows every buzzing insect, every scratchy hayseed on the Jutland farm of her troubled protagonist, Jacob. The Summer of Ellen is unmissable--a brilliant exploration of faulty memory and the lasting effects of adolescent trauma."
--Lene Kaaberbøl, New York Times bestselling co-author of the Nina Borg thrillers

"This branch of Nordic noir could be called Danish desolate; the settings, in contemporary Copenhagen and on a Jutlandfarm in 1978, mirror the psychological landscape by focusing on the bleak and challenging . . . Brilliant."
--Booklist, Starred Review

"Modern Copenhagen, Danish farmland in the '70s, and a hippy commune: The Summer of Ellen has all the ingredients for a gripping, literary noir."
--CrimeReads

"Friis, coauthor with Lene Kaaberbøl of the Nina Borg mysteries, excels in her second solo novel (after What My Body Remembers). Readers of Nordic noir literature will appreciate the setting, social critique, and the classic whodunit story. Fans of Henning Mankell's Wallander series will enjoy the excellent character development with twists and turns throughout."
--Library Journal

"Very strong . . . The Summer of Ellen reminded me of an international version of Nancy Pickard's The Scent of Rain and Lightning."
--BOLO Books

Praise for Agnete Friis

"In this sensitive character study, Agnete Friis, who writes the Nina Borg mysteries with Lene Kaaberbøl, dares us to confront bad mothers and other outcasts."
--The New York Times Book Review

"The first solo novel by Friis . . . measures up to the best-selling Nordic noir novel The Boy in the Suitcase. Ella Nygaard, 27, is a flawed, memorable character."
--The BBC, Between the Lines

"Breathtaking."
--Toronto Star

"A classic whodunit with a great up-to-date character and twist . . . An excellent character study of a woman in extreme crisis."
--The Globe and Mail

"[A] must-read . . . Half of the duo who co-wrote the socially conscious Nina Borg series, Friis brings that same liberal political slant to this new thriller about love and violence in families."
--LitHub

"The skillfully calibrated atmospheric tension and Ella's realistically awkward struggle toward redemption will appeal to fans of literary suspense like that of Jennifer McMahon and Karin Fossum."
--Booklist, Starred Review

About the Author:

Agnete Friis has co-authored four novels in the award-winning New York Times bestselling Nina Borg series: The Boy in the Suitcase, Invisible Murder, Death of a Nightingale, and The Considerate Killer. She lives in Copenhagen. What My Body Remembers was her solo debut.

Sinéad Quirke Køngerskov is a Danish to English translator whose previous projects include Susanne Clod Pedersen's Arnulf: A Viking Saga, Marie Tourell Søderberg's Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness, Katja Berger's The Reaper of Souls, and Anette Sams's The Truth about Sugar. She is also SmokeLong Quarterly magazine's guest editor for Danish.

About this edition

• Publisher: Soho Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1616959959
• ISBN 13: 9781616959951
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304