Ingeborg Arvola

Neiden 1970

In Neiden 1970, Ingeborg Arvola writes about childhood with her father in the Kven village of Neiden in the far north of Norway, in East Finnmark on the Norwegian-Finnish border. Father eats apples clad only in his underpants and washes the cups and the socks in the same water. The fishing trips last all night and the drinking binges even longer. Their life together is full of joy, a sense of belonging, alcoholic withdrawal shakes and conscientious hard work. Childhood and adult life reflect each other in this powerful and tender novel.