2024
Brilliant novel about divorce and mother-daughter relationship
A small family of three is falling apart. They couldn’t make it. Karen
couldn’t make it. Many voices emerge, from friends to family therapists,
with supposedly helping words: Shared custody. Mediation.
Distribution. Attachment. Predictable behaviour. Transit phase.
Children are robust creatures. Karen listens to them, the way a
modern woman is supposed to, while everything inside her is rebelling.
No, the child is mine. I’m it’s mother. There is nothing modern
about me.
Still, the questions arise: To what degree is the role as a mother connected
to being a family? Is the daughter still hers when she is with
her father? If you’re a mother one week, what are you the next?
With sharpness and warmth, Isakstuen portrays a mother who fears
she has failed her child. Be Kind to the Animals is a raw, acute and
harrowing novel about being in the ruins of a marriage with the one
you care about the most – every other week.
«An extraordinary reading experience. The voice
is analysing and at the same time self-critical and
self-revealing – and lyrical. Sometimes there is also a
touch of humour in the presentation, although muted.
Monica Isakstuen shows herself as a great stylist,
yet again.»
«An incredibly beautiful and good description of
a life dilemma, I’m impressed by both content and
form. The world needs to see this book.»
«Brilliant novel about divorce and
mother-daughter relationship.»
Monica Isakstuen
