Sólrún Michelsen

On the Other Side is March

Genre: Novel
Publisher: Mentunargrunnur Studentafelagsins
Year: 2013
Pages: 144
ISBN: 978-99918-75-04-0
English translation available

An elegant and darkly witty novel about aging, memory, and the invisible work of care.
The narrator of On the Other Side is March has reached her early sixties. Her kids are grown and out of the house and she’s faced with a time that, for years, she always seemed to be looking toward—a time when she wasn't needed by somebody or something. But now, with her mother’s declining health, she finds herself revisiting childhood scenes, family hymns, and folk songs—revealing a lifetime of love, duty, awe, and regret. She tends to her mother amid the stark rhythms of Faroese life, waiting for a new nursing home that never arrives, and confronts the reality of being part of the "army of women" who inherit care. In her grief and private goodbye to her mother, however, is also a gorgeous meditation about life.

Sólrún Michelsen (b. 1948) is one of the Faroe Islands' most acclaimed contemporary writers. Since her debut in 1994, she has published books for both children and adults across several genres and has received multiple literary awards for her work.

Awards and nominations: Nordic Council Literature Prize nominee 2015

Rights holder: Sólrún Michelsen

Rights sold: USA, UK, Greece, Ethiopia, Norway, Denmark