The Unseen

It seems impossible that this short novel of family life on a remote Norwegian island hasn't been handed down for generations. It feels as much like a document for the ages as it does a piece of contemporary fiction, depicting lives filled with toil and reward that might as easily be led in the middle ages as in the 20th century. The Unseen's characters aren't primitives, though, nor are they simple. Jacobsen's uncondescending narration richly individualizes them and grants them the full scope of human expression, from fear and strain and grief to whimsy, desire, and joy. I don't think I've ever read anything that better touched the essential truth of what it is to be alive. —James [from the Madison Books newsletter]