A Righteous Man

Karsten and Marianne fall in love, marry each other, have children … and then Karsten commits adultery. In her anger and bitterness, Marianne begins to suspect Karsten of having committed more than mere adultery. Could he have assaulted his own daughters? Marianne contacts the retired judge Edvard Frisbakke. Edvard has always regarded himself as a righteous person, as someone capable of distinguishing between innocence and guilt – especially in cases concerning sexual assault. All his life he has sentenced bad men to harsh punishments, firmly convinced that he has thus helped make the world a better place. Now he assists in convicting Karsten, and the small family is torn apart forever. But is it possible to be so right?

With this book Helene Uri goes straight to the root of a highly relevant and engaging theme. More than anything, however, this is a deeply touching story about people who hurt each other because they love each other.

Praise

"If there is one novel you should read this year, this is the one. Some novels are more than surprises, revelations, human "explosions". A Righteous Man is among these, to the point where it transcends the literary frame. [...] For this first part alone - with its sharp, methodical, intelligent and merciless description of a disintegrating marriage - this novel deserves to be counted among this year's best, but what follows, is even more impressive [...]With this sublime novel, the author shows in a sophisticated and cruel way our instincts of hate, our petty-mindedness, our small acts of revenge, our loneliness, our hopelessnes, so often the cause of the worst injustices.

Extraordinary, merciless, uncompromising, lucid to the point of cruelty, never sensationalistic, full of a humanism which is confusing because it is so truthful, accusing and interrogative, this novel is in these eyes one of the first great books of the 21st century. A breath of intelligence and emotions.

It catches us in a trap, lets us bleed to death! Ferociously it spreads doubt, leaves us stunned, knocked out, in the face of this deeply upsetting story of a "family without history".Gérard Collard, La Chaine Info, France

“I have just finished reading A Righteous Man and I am beside myself with joy. What a knock-out, I have seldom read a book that has manipulated me (in positive terms) with such sophistication. Nothing is black or white, and all the characters are strong. The story teaches us that reality is so much more complicated than it seems …” Eva Bredin/JC Lattes

“Everyone should read this book”Dagbladet

“Around this wasps´ hive of suspicion, guilt and innocence the writer weaves a daring and to-the-point piece of fiction that deserves praise for its courage and style.”Aftenposten

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From chapter 1

A little girl pirouettes around the room. Her fair hair is in plaits and she has a tutu on. She is wearing nothing on top and when she lifts her skirt up high, so high, as small children do when they want to do a real curtsy, it is obvious that she is wearing nothing underneath either, only that one piece of clothing: a see-through, white tutu. The light in the room is dim. In the sofa, a man sits watching. There is a glass of something on the table in front of him, but he doesn´t touch it. He just watches. He leans back in the sofa, closes his eyes for a moment, but then opens them again and looks at the girl. She dances on. In clumsy leaps and bounds, with her thin, childish bottom and round-drum tummy. ´Give me a twirl,´ the man says. The girl twirls, laughs, and nearly falls over. ´Perfect pirouette,´ the man says. ´Now you have to curtsy.´ The girl curtsies, lifts her tutu up as high as she can, and curtsies again. ´Are you going to twirl some more?´ the man asks. The girl twirls until she bumps into the coffee table, causing whatever it is in the glass to slosh around. ´Come over here and sit down, Elise,´ says the man. The girl looks at him, then obediently creeps up into his lap. He puts his arms round her tiny frame. Her little sister has gone to bed extra early, because she has a bad cold, such a bad, bad cold. Mummy has gone to the pictures with some friends. There´s only Elise and Daddy in the whole wide world. He kisses her behind the ear.

´My lovely girl. Daddy´s big girl.´

Elise´s toy rabbit falls on to the floor.

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