Two Words for Destruction

Sandra Kolstad

Original title: To ord for ødeleggelse
Publisher: Aschehoug , 2021
Pages: 266 pages

Frida meets Nina at a gallery and they fall in love. They quickly become so close that Frida loses sight of where she begins and where she ends. She is on the verge of losing it and existence becomes volatile, but Nina provides structure and defines the boundaries.

Two Words for Destruction (To ord for ødeleggelse) is a story of breakdown and submission. About how easy it is to disappear within the will of another – and about the devastating experience of having someone tighten their grip only to subsequently let you go.

Awards

Aschehoug’s Debutant Prize 2021

Kolstad’s debut novel is a small wonder of a book … luminous, reflected prose about the beauties and horrors of love … Two Words for Destruction is one of the most beautiful books I have read in a long, long time, about how painful and delightful love can be. I am already looking forward to Kolstad’s next book.

Kjetil Røed, Vårt Land

5/5: Sandra Kolstad’s debut novel is both a beautiful love story and a painful account of how self-destructive we all can be. (…) Two Words for Destruction explores the beautiful and brutal extremes of love in the relationships of two lovers and of a mother and child. The challenges of finding a balance between dependency and the inner drive for self-determination are portrayed with great intensity and playful intelligence.

Johannes Grytnes, BT. (Five hearts)

5/5: Beautiful and insightful about impossible love. Musician and composer Sandra Kolstad delivers with literary confidence, poetic sensuality and introspective maturity in her debut novel.

Sigmund Jensen, Stavanger Aftenblad

…an intense story about love and power, or power in love’s clothing. And its impact reverberates for a long time, like a truly beautiful pop song in which everything jibes.

Ellen Sofie Lauritzen, Dagens Næringsliv

Sandra Kolstad

Photo: Anne Valeur

Sandra Kolstad is a Norwegian musician, composer, producer, and copywriter. Kolstad frequently works in the intersection of music and literature, including as a composer for the performing arts. Her most recent album releases are Burning Love (2019) and Elv på Himmelen (2019). The latter includes twelve poems by Jon Fosse that she has set to music. Two Words for Destruction is her fiction debut.