98. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

The past and the present collide in this beautiful novel by Norwegian author Petterson. 67-year-old Trond Sander is living in self-imposed exile in a small, rustic cabin near the Swedish border. After his wife and sister died three years ago, he has yearned for silence and solitude. When he meets his only nearby neighbor, he slowly realizes that he knew Lars from his boyhood summers spent in the area. Lars was the brother of Trond’s best friend during the summer of 1948 – a summer that changed many lives in that wooded area. Lars accidentally shot his twin brother to death when his brother Jon left his loaded gun out within reach. It was also during this fateful summer that Trond’s father abandons his family and ends up leaving with Jon’s mother after the death of her son.

Named a New York Times Notable Book of Fiction, this is a haunting look at childhood memories. Petterson gives excellent descriptions of Norway’s forest areas and of the summers and winters in that country. A novel of isolation, loss, and abandonment, it is a truly stunning work of fiction that deserves to be read.