Aslak Nore and "The Sea Cemetery" take Italy by storm
Aslak Nore The Sea Cemetery came out in Italian on June 4th (Il cimitero del mare, tr. Giovanna Paterniti) and is raking in the rave reviews! Last week, Aslak toured four Italian cities to promote the book alongside his Italian publishers, Marsilio.
Some reviews:
«A family saga intertwined with the mysteries and anxieties of an entire country over the years spanning from the Second World War to today’s conflicts in the Middle East, passing through the Cold War. In The Sea Cemetery, Aslak Nore tells a complex and fascinating story that, based on a true event, investigates the dark side of a society and the disturbing shadows that the past still casts on the present of a part of the Scandinavian world and on its prospects for the future.»
Guido Caldiron, Il manifesto
«The seas surrounding Norway are rich in history, crisscrossed by important trade routes that conceal many secrets. Starting from a true historical fact, The Sea Cemetery a delves into a family conflict. Aslak Nore interweaves the story of the war with the drama of a wealthy dynasty torn apart after the death of matriarch Vera Lind. The woman has left behind a manuscript, and the race to find fragments of this lost book is intertwined with secret service affairs and traumatic memories of the Nazi occupation. Part family saga and part spy story, The Sea Cemetery is an ambitious book, and it is worth to let yourself be carried away by it.»
Internazionale
«Aslak Nore reminds of Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo, but he is definitely the freshest Nordic voice to which we can listen today.»
Francesco Mannoni, Il mattino
«Aslak Nore is a real revelation.»
Francesca Visentin, Corriere del Veneto
«Taking his cue from a real event that took place in 1940, Norwegian author Aslak Nore sets up a plot with geopolitics as well as the secrets of a dynasty of shipowners at its centre. In his story, rich of jumps back and forth in time as if unwinding and rewinding a film reel, the intricate tangle of the family’s mysteries gradually unravels. Lies and malice, stories of great love and petty betrayals, international business affairs woven by oiling the right political channels, bloody guerrilla actions in the Middle East, secret plans set up by the official 007s but also by parallel organisations born in the shadows to defend Norway from potential enemies, a legacy disputed between the two branches of the dynasty that looms ominously over the past, present and future of the protagonists… There is a bit of everything in the story of the Falcks and their empire, and the rich material – generously spread through the pages of the novel – is handled with skill and ingenuity by the author, who does not let himself be overwhelmed and instead succeeds in creating a very enjoyable book, part thriller part family saga. Thanks to his experience as a journalist and to his first-hand knowledge of the Middle East, Nore moves with skill in the hottest theatres of contemporary wars, just as he wanders confidently among the much more cramped offices of lawyers, managers and politicians in which he depicts the more or less legitimate plots devised by this or that actor in history to preserve power and wealth.The author is also convincing in the descriptive pages of his novel, as well as in defining the psychology of the various characters.»
Marco Ostoni, Corriere della sera
Congratulations to all!
