Martin Baldysz

Beyond the Shallows

It is summer on Mulen, the island at the edge of the sea where Ingeborg lives with her parents and younger siblings. In the small island community, life goes on just as it always has. The outside world seems distant, but the modern world is knocking on their door, threatening what is safe and familiar. Ingeborg cannot reconcile herself to the idea of living here for the rest of her life. Everything seems predetermined. She longs beyond the shallows, where the waves break around the island. But there is another longing in Ingeborg. In everything she does, she yearns for the green house on the other side of the island where Olaug, who has just become a widow, lives. Olaug with the black hair and strong arms. Olaug who hunts for seal and eagles. What is it about Olaug that is so different, that makes Ingeborg feel both confined and liberated?

Beyond the shallows is a close and sensory portrait of a young girl in the 60s, a time of transition, where both she and the society around her are undergoing significant changes.