Near Distance

Page after page leaves the reader anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Stoltenberg debuts with a stunning portrait of a strained mother-daughter relationship. (…) It’s a winner.

Stoltenberg writes clearly and precisely with a finely honed, at times acidic eye for the Norwegian middle class’s manners, values and consumption.

The debutant sticks needles into contemporary topics, not entirely different from those that Trude Marstein’s latest novel, Conscience, touches upon. Stoltenberg’s style is a little more elegant, or “mock” elegant. And she gets away with it ... Stylistically and thematically, and within a familiar but fragmented framework, Hanna Stoltenberg has found her way to those spots that are both painful and ticklish.

Nada is a cracklingly strong debut ... I sense that we are seeing the beginnings of a great author.

In a relatively short novel, which plays out over the course of a week, this debut author proves herself to be a competent stylist. The fluid prose is full of imagery that stays with you. [...] Through a well-composed text, in which various levels of time effortlessly play out against each other, and a with a keen eye for contemporary events, Hanna Stoltenberg is far more than just an averagely interesting first-time author.

A promising debut, […] exceptionally well-observed.