Great title. Boring book.

If anything, it is the 'reappearance of Jane Ashland' outside the mountain forest - that is if she does not stay on with the animals (musk ox?)

But thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

*** 3-3.5 Stars ***

Poor Jane Ashland is the best way I explain this story. When tragedy strikes writer, Jane Ashland, who is also an author with significant writers block, she leaves Wisconsin and the story begins with her waking alone in a tent in the Norwegian mountains. This is a very quick read and an extremely sad story explaining the grief Jane is dealing with. Overall it was a good read, but it was quite boring to me, which is why I rated it lower.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Tin House Books for allowing me an advanced read copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nicolai Houm has really taken a woman (Jane Ashland), who has been devastated by an accident involving her husband and daughter and took her from Wisconsin to Norway. She met Ulf on the flight to Norway and hooks up with him after she see's family in Norway. He's into researching musk ox and takes her with him into the Norwegian wilderness. All through the book it relates to Janes life and her choices at that specific time. When she's young and meets her husband, latter when they have their child. Even later when she suffers with her loss. I like the way he ended the story and I gave it 4 stars.

I wanted to like this one more than I did. The writing was fine and I read it very quickly, but I didn't feel like anything was particularly new about the plot. I felt like the book had been written before, and I'd read it. This doesn't really take away from this book, but it was hard to get excited about it when everything proceeded in the way I had expected.

This one was paced way to slow for me. The discoveries were too spaced out and I lost interest in Jane. By the time the next reveal came I barely even cared.

The gradual disappearance of Jane Ashland is a fluidly beautiful and complex novel. Starting much like a suspense thriller, the story unfold in pieces making the reader wait to find out what exactly happened to Jane. The answer is not at all what we expect, not a physical nightmare, but a mental and emotional nightmare of grief and anger from which Jane cannot escape.

The character of Jane is astoundingly complex. She is not a "likeable" character and yet she is deeply sympathetic. The reader must continually ask themself, how long is it ok to grieve? At what point is it time to get over it? What is the right way to deal with unimaginable tragedy? We are meeting a character at the absolute nadir of her life and being asked to observe intimately for a small window of time.

Nicolae Houm is walking a tightrope with his heroine and each time he crosses the line into distasteful and unsympathetic, he reels the reader back in to the reality of Jane's life, how she lived and what she's lost. Her voice is raw and desperate, as well it should be.

My feelings about this book changed many times while reading this short but dense novel. However having had time to sit down and digest it as a whole, I find myself more and more drawn to the complexity and nuance of the story. This is a masterful piece of story-telling and I am grateful for the experience and the opportunity to share it with other readers.

An American woman wakes up alone in a tent in the Norwegian mountains. Outside a storm rages and the fog is dense. Her phone is dead. She doesn't have a map or a compass or any food. 

How she ended up there, and the tragic events of her past emerges over the course of this slim, gripping novel. We discover that she's a writer with a bad case of writer's block - she hasn't written a word since her husband and daughter died in a tragic car crash. As we watch Jane's life spiral out of control, we also see how she got here - her troubled parents and loving marriage. - Goodreads

*Short Review*

I have a hard time reading books, in which the author does this really big circle around an issue or the point before actually getting to it. This makes for a long drawn out experience that I am not up for. 

In this read, the author relied heavily on intrigue to keep me reading the book. You're constantly wondering what is going on with Jane and why is she so melancholy and blah to everything around her. You know about the death of her husband and daughter but there is something more to what is going on. The author takes beating around the bush literally and that is what killed the book. 

But beyond this, the author breaks down grief, regret and well I wouldn't necessarily say forgiveness because you don't believe it actually happens. . . more like acceptance. This wasn't a bad book but it was too drawn out for me to fully enjoy it. 

2 Pickles

I read the whole book, waiting for something (I am not sure what), but it never came. Maybe something was lost in translation, but it was hard to care for any of the characters. I got that she was suffering a very deep grief, but eventually I did not care. She just acted bizarrely for reasons that were not clear. Some of the plot was presented with so little explanation, it was hard to follow. I will not recommend this one.

This is a beautifully written story about Jane Ashland. It begins with Jane visualizing what her rescuers will see when she is found dead. Quite an opening and from there we follow Jane through many different times in her life and ultimately learn how she wound up in this particular place. I didn't realize this was only 192 pages and before I knew it, I had reached the end.
Jane's story is about life, love, loss and unbearable grief. The author shares brief glimpses into various moments from Jane's life and I almost felt as though I was looking at an actual picture of the events described. The words just flowed so well and the scenes were just so, so vivid to me. It ends ambiguously and depending on whether you are a glass half full or a glass half empty type person, it is either extremely sad or hopeful. A very unique and enjoyable read.
Thank you Nicolai Houm, Anna Paterson(Translated by), Tin House Books and NetGalley for the complimentary digital review copy. I certainly hope to read more by this author in the future.

This book kept me hooked! I really enjoyed the main character, and I definitely didn't guess the twist at the end. An enjoyable read!

Really interesting, disjointed narrative. Certainly, an author to watch.
Snippets of Jane's life, but not in any kind of order, make up the narrative. In fact, the story reads like various experiences draw Jane's conscience to random past events. Since the memories appear to be directed by Jane, the narration is undoubtedly unreliable. Rather than accurate details of actual past occurrences, readers are presented with Jane's perspective of what happened. Given that the character has experienced traumatic life-changing grief, even her own take is likely skewed from how she actually experienced life at the time when these things were happening.
It should be noted this could also be read as a play on creative writing and language itself. Jane, who "was" a writer (she quit writing), views everything from an "author's" point of view. The novel presents writers as people who experience the world differently. The result is a fascinating adventure in how writing and language work! Definitely, warrants multiple readings, some with a focus on how memory works, how grief is portrayed, and finally with a focus on language and writing.

A quick and beautiful read; it was haunting and real. Jane's loss and the characters that float in and out of her universe add to the chaos that grief creates. Her past and present collide and we get to know who Jane is before losing it all.

I almost didn't finish this one. I don't like Jane, I don't find the other characters particularly likable either. The back and forth from present to past feels choppy, and maybe the problem is I don't get enough of Jane's story early on in order to feel anything other than annoyed about her behavior.