One of Us Is Sleeping - Danish Women Writers by Josefine Klougart Paperback

About the Book

A best-selling novel of a failed relationship; about leaving and being left behind, loss, homelessness, and light.

Book Synopsis

"Scandinavia now has its own Virginia Woolf. Few get as close to the human mind as Klougart"--Mari Nymoen Nilsen, VG

The English-language debut from one of Denmark's most exciting, celebrated young writers, One of Us Is Sleeping is a haunting novel about loss in all its forms.

As she returns home to visit her mother who is dying of cancer, the narrator recounts a brief, intense love affair, as well as the grief and disillusionment that follow its end. The book's striking imagery and magnificent prose underpin its principal theme: the jarring contrast between the recollection of stability, your parents, your childhood home, your love, and the continual endings that we experience throughout our lives.

A true-to-life, deeply poetic novel that works in the same vein as Anne Carson, One of Us Is Sleeping has won Klougart countless accolades and award nominations, including the Readers' Book Award, securing her place as a major new voice in world literature.

Josefine Klougart has been hailed as one of Denmark's greatest contemporary writers. She is the first Danish author ever to have two of her first three books nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize. She's been compared to a range of authors, including Joan Didion, Anne Carson, and Virginia Woolf.

Martin Aitken has translated dozens of books from the Danish, including works by Dorthe Nors, Jussi Adler-Olsen, Peter Høeg, and Kim Leine, among others.

Review Quotes

"Call them prose poems, call them flash fictions, call them lyric shorts, these pieces shine beyond categorization."--The Review Review

"Klougart is probably the best young writer in Denmark.... One of this year's grand novels."--Berlingske

"Danish writer Josefine Klougart has written an evocative, eerie novel of love and injury in One of Us Is Sleeping. This unconventional work jettisons many elements of traditional storytelling. Rather than creating a conventional narrative, Klougart unfurls her story through haunting and daring language."--Eric Maroney, Center for Literary Publishing, Colorado State University

"The cryptic title, perhaps a metaphor signaling missed opportunities, is as pensive as the rest of this slim volume, a prizewinning best-seller in Denmark."--Martin Aitken, World Literature Today

"Something of a wunderkind in her native Denmark, Klougart has published three other novels to wide acclaim, earning comparisons to Virginia Woolf and Anne Carson."--Kirkus Review

About the Author

Author of four best-selling novels, Josefine Klougart (b. 1985) has been hailed as one of Denmark's greatest contemporary writers. She was the first Danish author ever to have two of her first three books nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize, Scandinavia's most prestigious award. Her work has also been nominated for the Readers' Book Award, and she received the Danish Royal Prize for Culture in 2011 with the committee stating that she is "one of the most important writers, not just of her generation, but of her time." She's been compared to a range of authors, including Joan Didion, Anne Carson, and Virginia Woolf.

Martin Aitken has translated dozens of books from the Danish, including works by Dorthe Nors, Jussi Adler-Olsen, Peter Høeg, Pia Juul, and Kim Leine, among others. He was awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation's Nadia Christensen Translation Prize, and was longlisted for both the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.