You Alone
A brutally beautiful love story based on real events.
You Alone is a powerful and moving young adult novel based on the true story of Gunvor Hofmo and Ruth Maier. It’s a tale that reveals both the brightest and darkest experiences a young person can face.
Akershusstranda, Oslo, November 26, 1942: As the D/S Donau pulled away from the dock, Gunvor Hofmo stood alone. Just moments earlier, she had seen her beloved Ruth Maier for the last time. Ruth never returned to Gunvor. Only days later, she was killed in Auschwitz. What happened would shape Gunvor Hofmo’s life and poetry more than anything else.
You Alone is a deeply emotional and brutally beautiful novel that brings readers close to Hofmo and Maier in the time just before they met and during their relationship in wartime Norway.
Hilde Hagerup breathes life into a defining story from Norwegian history. With precise and lyrical language, she brings the story of Gunvor Hofmo and Ruth Maier into the present. Hagerup shows us that their story remains hauntingly relevant in a world where right-wing populism and extremism continue to spread.
You Alone is a story that will break your heart but also offer a profound hope for the future and for love.
«This is how it should be done! [...] It is shocking and brilliantly executed.»
«One of this year’s truly powerful reading experiences […] This is a magnificent book, shocking from start to finish, painful and beautiful.»
«A beautiful love story [...] She lets the language itself create a love that ignites, sparkles, and shines.»
«A rarely successful young adult novel that combines historical precision, poetic language, and human gravity [...] The novel has a special presence and tension.»