My Human

Ruth and Gorm. She is an established artist from a poor background on an island off the coast of northern Norway. He is a merchant’s son from the same part of the country. They have had a place in each other’s consciousness ever since their first random encounter as children, but it is only as adults, with broken marriages and new beginnings behind them, that they meet in earnest. My human is the story of these two, of Ruth’s relationship to painting and recognition, of Gorm’s quest for a life of greater meaning. The urge they both have to live something that feels true is both weakened and intensified by conditions in northern Norway and forthright pragmatism.

In this novel, Wassmo further explores some of the themes that have characterised her authorship: the decisive rebellion against the cards life deals you, and the price of this rebellion for oneself and one’s surroundings. But above all, it’s about the vital need to meet the person in life that you can call your own.

FOREIGN SALES: Denmark, Lindhardt og Rinhof France, Acte Sud/Gaïa Lithuania, Alma Littera Latvia, Zvaigzne ABC Publishers Netherland, DeGeus France, Actes Sud

Praise:

“Masterful Wassmo! (…) This is that burdensome love in Wassmo’s superb hands. (…) And she knows how to assemble scenes and create drama, the only thing to do is abandon yourself to her great new epic My Human.”– VG

“In My Human, Herbjørg Wassmo pays homage to love in ways one rarely experiences in contemporary literature (…) As so many times before, Wassmo has created a drama that is ‘larger than life’.”– NRK

“Wassmo’s literary generosity consists in this especially: She does not believe her characters should be left to their own devices, but is magnanimous in her view of what humanity is, what we, the readers, should be able to put up with from others, without it meaning that she endures it all. She has demonstrated the political power of this in her Tora trilogy, where she thematised child sexual abuse. (…) While it is perfectly possible to write about Wassmo without always returning to this story, in my view it is part of something else, something greater – a view of humanity, an outlook on life – which is one of the greatest qualities of her authorship.”– Klassekampen

“(...) touching and truthful, solemn and risible, sensual and rich in perspective.”– Stavanger Aftenblad

"This is a very beautiful and worldly story that could serve as an example for relationships between couples and between humans in general." – Qland.dk

"Throughout the novel the author seduces us with an innocent lightness and a conscious literary touch, posing existential questions about man's potential for coexistence and self-realisation. And towards the end of the book, Wassmo provides us with a fitting answer." – POV International

"My Human is a magnificently ambitious novel about uncompromising art and mature love. You’ll read it in one sitting." – Jyllands-Posten