Dina's Book
- Book Review,
by Herbjorg Wassmo
From Publishers Weekly
Set in mid-19th century Norway and infused with Scandinavian-style magical realism, this spellbinding novel calls to mind Eliot's Middlemarch and the film Babette's Feast. Willful Dina's character is shaped by her involvement in the grisly accident that kills her mother, after which she temporarily loses the power of speech and permanently distances herself from the strictures of upper-class life in remote, sub-Arctic Nordland. Wild and unmanageable, Dina is sent from home soon after the accident to be raised in a poor cotter's family. She remains mute for several years, until she returns to her father's house where she is taken in hand by a tutor who teaches her music and mathematics. At age 15, Dina is married off to Jacob, a wealthy older landowner. After Jacob's unexpected death (in another accident in which Dina plays a part), his forceful, unconventional widow takes over his estate, bending its people to her will. Though beset by ghosts and a nearly papable grief, Dina proves to be a survivor. Insightful, memorable characterizations, coupled with spare, unadorned prose, move the haunting narrative swiftly to its enigmatic finish. Wassmo was named "The Author of the Eighties" by Norwegian booksellers; she also won the prestigious Nordic Council Literature Prize. 25,000 first printing. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The fine line between sanity and insanity is tested in this riveting novel of 19th-century Norway. Dina feels rejection and guilt for, at age five, having accidentally caused her mother's death. As a willful tomboy, she is married off at age 16 to a man her father's age. After he teaches her the joys of sexuality and wine, he dies suddenly and mysteriously. Widowed and pregnant, Dina becomes actively involved in the management of her husband's ample estate, though she is now haunted by two ghosts. When a Russian wanderer dips in and out of her life, she becomes a woman obsessed. Though the focus of the book is on Dina's character, the setting is vividly portrayed, and the action brings one surprise after another. The author is winner of the Nordic Council Prize. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.- Ann Irvine, Montgomery Cty. P.L., Md.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Wassmo, a renowned Scandinavian novelist with an international following, will soon acquire an enthusiastic American audience because this ravishing tale is not to be missed. Wassmo writes with a depth and devotion to character and story reminiscent of writers of the last century, and, in fact, this story about an intractable, even demonic, woman is set in Norway around 1840. Part tragedy, part gothic romance, the story of Dina of Reinsnes begins when she is a child and accidently causes her lovely mother's gruesome death, a catastrophe that drives her into such deep shock she never fully regains her sense of humanity. She grows into a toweringly beautiful, invincible, and voraciously sensual woman who does just as she pleases--wearing trousers, smoking cigars, playing the unladylike cello, and riding bareback--even after she marries a wealthy and respectable landowner. Gifted both mathematically and musically, but prone to solitude and restlessness and haunted by her mother's ghost, Dina is absolutely ruthless and unforgiving. Her demoralized husband dies under mysterious circumstances, and Dina takes over his estate, driving the men crazy with her cruelty and fatal allure until she finally meets her match, an enigmatic Russian who won't be cowed. Wassmo writes about Norway's brutal cold and the maddening midnight sun, and the heat of unconscionable desire and the hovering shadow of death, with a magnetic intensity that burns through reason and compassion and explodes into the void. Donna Seaman
From Kirkus Reviews
This sweeping, romantic novel written by a popular Norwegian author takes place in Norway during the 1800s. Its heroine, Dina, is an unhappy, fiercely independent siren who is tormented from childhood by her mother's death from wounds caused by Dina's accidental spilling of a pot of scalding lye. After her mother's agonizing demise, the horrified Dina is periodically visited by her mother's ghost, turns mute, runs wild, and learns to bend people to her will. Her father, the town sheriff, struggles in vain to raise her properly. When Dina's father weds a woman whom his daughter dislikes, he marries Dina off to a middle-aged, comfortable landowner who is entranced by her untamed, ``heavy sensuality.'' After the landowner dies in a suspicious sleigh accident while Dina is taking him to the doctor, Dina takes over the household and manipulates the lives of everyone in it. Then she meets an enigmatic Russian traveler who wins her hard heart. The author convincingly conveys Dina's shattered psyche, as well as the narrow-mindedness of her neighbors. She also skillfully evokes the primitiveness of the Norwegian landscape, which closely mirrors Dina's temperament. But the plot is formulaic and the prose often clich‚d and melodramatic (``He felt his lust recede and his maleness burst....He realized that Dina--the mistress of Reinsnes--was a child. He was moved by the thought and filled with shame. And excited beyond belief!''). Dina is more of an archetype than a fully developed character, as are the men she seduces. Even when she meets the man she is destined for, there is no real change on her part or resolution in the story. After a psychologically suspenseful start, the novel turns predictable and disappointing. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Norwegian
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