#BlogTour – #BookReview of #Toxic by @HelgaFlatland @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours #RandomThingsTours #Norway

calturner

June 14

I'm pleased to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for the brilliant Toxic by Helga Flatland. Thank you as always to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.

About the book:

When Mathilde is forced to leave her teaching job in Oslo after her relationship with eighteen-year-old Jacob is exposed, she flees to the countryside for a more authentic life.

Her new home is a quiet cottage on the outskirts of a dairy farm run by Andres and Johs, whose hobbies include playing the fiddle and telling folktales – many of them about female rebellion and disobedience, and seeking justice, whatever it takes.

But beneath the surface of the apparently friendly and peaceful life on the farm, something darker and less harmonic starts to vibrate, and with Mathilde's arrival, cracks start appearing … everywhere.

About the author:

Helga Flatland is already one of Norway's most awarded and widely read authors. Born in Telemark, Norway, in 1984, she made her literary debut in 2010 with the novel Stay If You Can, Leave If You Must, for which she was awarded the Tarjei Vesaas' First Book Prize. She has written four novels and a children's book and has won several other literary awards.

Her fifth novel, A Modern Family (her first English translation), was published to wide acclaim in Norway in August 2017, and was a number-one bestseller. The rights have subsequently been sold across Europe and the novel has sold more than 100,000 copies. One Last Time was published in Norway in 2020, where it topped the bestseller lists, and was shortlisted for the Norwegian Booksellers

My Review:

I adore Helga Flatland's writing so I couldn't wait to get my hands on her latest novel, Toxic - and I'm happy to say it did not disappoint! Skilfully translated by Matt Bagguley, it is a deeply emotional read that I know will stay with me. The author brings these characters vividly to life, delving deep beneath the surface as she explores the complex nature of their relationships.

Toxic tells the story of Mathilde, who is forced to leave her teaching job in Oslo when her relationship with 18 year old Jacob is exposed. Fleeing to the countryside she settles in a quiet cottage on the outskirts of a dairy farm run by Andres and Johs, whose hobbies include playing the fiddle and telling folktales.

But it soon becomes apparent that something darker is simmering beneath the surface and, with Mathilde's arrival, cracks start appearing that have the potential to change everything… forever.

Helga Flatland has never shied away from tackling difficult subjects head on and Toxic is no different. In an unsettling and character driven story that is a tense and sometimes uncomfortable read, Mathilde, Andres and Johs are beautifully written and are all fascinating in their own individual ways.

I loved this book. There is a beauty to Helga Flatland's writing that always draws me in. She has a way of bringing the extraordinary out of the ordinary and I love how her words brings these people so movingly to life, telling a story that really does make you think.

Although very much a slow burn of a noveI, Toxic is an intense and at times disturbing read that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. Helga Flatland's writing is as superb as ever and I can't wait to read whatever this talented author comes up with next.

Toxic by Helga Flatland (Translated by Matt Bagguley) is available to purchase now.

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