I love Hjorth, this was incredible, she writes so well on the conditions of family, secrecy, and relationships.

Expect nothing less from Vigdis Hjorth; a domestic thriller about the mother-daughter dynamic. Would recommend to fans of 'Will and Testament'.

Phew this was not what I was expecting! Someone called it an anxiety novel in another review and I agree. As an adult women with a complicated relationship with my own mother, I found the dynamic at play here to be fascinating and chilling.

Vigdis Hjorth's IS MOTHER DEAD is a masterwork on daughterhood and fixation--which is to say, daughterhood. A journey to recognizing one's mother and oneself as human and individual, though not entirely separate, guided by a narrator who doesn't claim to have that figured out. For a book with nearly zero dialogue it feels highly conversational. I love this book I love this book I love this book. As a daughter, I'm so glad to finish it the day before mother's day.

3.5 The second half of this novel upped my rating, I think the the mother daughter relationship gets explored in a more interesting and engaging light, the discussion of sympathy, forgiveness, the understanding of anothers suffering, what that particularly means for a daughter facing the mythical inescapable 'mother' of her life. And then the ending... while I was initially unsure how it made me feel I think it really drives home the intentions behind and intended arc of the narrative.

thanks to netgalley for the arc!

Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023
This psychologically acute and intricate text puts readers in the head of a sixty-ish woman who struggles to come to terms with her relationship to her estranged mother: Johanna, our narrator and protagonist, is a successful painter who disappointed her strict and controlling family's expectations when she gave up her studies to become a lawyer and left her conventional husband in order to move to the Utah with a man she fell in love with and become an artist. Two of her popular paintings, "Mother and Child I" and "Mother and Child II", have caused offense to the elderly mother, and the text does not make clear whether they are actually channeling Johanna's resentment - then again, can an artist truly explain of their subconscious decisions? After the death of her beloved husband, Johanna, who at this point didn't have contact to her Norwegian family for decades, moves back to her hometown of Oslo and gets obsessed with her mother, seeking, well ... forgiveness? Closure?

Hjorth does a great job writing about the messiness of familial relationships, about irrational emotional impulses, and the inability to fully grasp one's own emotions. Johanna was treated poorly by her parents, but she is still emotionally attached to her mother. Then, the book ponders what we owe our parents and siblings - and what they owe us. The crazy thing is that this dark and sometimes comedic text becomes a real thriller: The backstory is revealed slowly along the way, while the main plot is moved forward by the protagonist trying to investigate and contact her mother. Trying to figure out her mother, Johanna's actions escalate and she loses control while actually trying to gain control over the very narrative she is telling in the novel.

The book is also a rumination on female roles, showing the mother as a subjugated and the daughter as a loving wife, presenting two varieties of (grand-)motherhood, showing the housewife and the working artist, and pondering the implications of sisterhood as well as being a daughter. Apparently, the author herself wasn't in contact with most of her family for years, and her former semi-autobiographical novel Will and Testament even led to her mother and sister publicly protesting against the content.

The book is full of sharp, smart sentences, and the immersive story remains captivating throughout. This is an excellent entry on a Booker list that has quite some contenders that discuss motherhood.

4.5 rounded down

Having enjoyed Long Live the Post Horn! I was keen to check out the author's latest novel to be translated into English. Words that come to mind when trying to describe this novel are claustrophobic and intense. As the reader I felt fully immersed into the protagonist - Johanna's - mind and psyche as she becomes more and more obsessed with the rejection from her family (specifically her mother) after a rift dating back 30 years, which eventually culminates in her stalking her mother. Not a pleasant read but a truly memorable one - recommended!

Is Mother Dead perfectly encapsulates what I'd consider an anxiety drama. Written in journal entries, or rather what appears to be journal entries, our narrator is constantly overthinking about their own personal issues, specifically the mysterious absence of their mother. We soon find out that it's not so mysterious - in fact there was a falling out that happened sometime before the book began. Within the narrator's entries we learn parts of their life where things went astray. We're thrusted into the anxiety of our narrator's mind. As someone who definitely overanalyzes and creates desperate narratives, I loved Is Mother Dead.

Oh boy what a book! So different and so engaging. As a mother of a grown daughter it was fascinating to see the narrator's mother solely through her eyes. It seems that she is almost sinking into madness at times, truly shows that you can never escape that bond.

4.5/5
A breathless and erratic narration of a woman who's trying to reconnect with her mother using stalkerish moves. Loved the writing style because it really gave off that breathlessness and urgency of the situation. The main character was a very well written unreliable narrator and we follow her thoughts throughout all the moments of clarity and childishness and toxicity, and even though I was afraid that it would get tiring reading from her perspective only, it really didn't and I think big part of it was because of the flashbacks that shed some light into the toxic relationship between her and her mother. Would love to see a bigger reckoning at the end, but otherwise loved the portayal of this relationship and think that it would make for a great group reading.

This tense and immersive psychological drama is an insightful exploration of a mother and daughter relationship. Johanna is a recently widowed artist, back in her native Oslo, after a long absence in the US, for a retrospective of her work. The subject of that work has been motherhood and some of her more controversial paintings have caused a rift between herself and her family, especially her mother. As the years have gone by her preoccupation with the rift has only grown and become an obsession. She attempts to reconnect with her family but is harshly rebuffed, leading her to more and more extreme measures to see her mother and talk about her childhood, desperately searching for answers. To be inside Johanna’s head is a jarring experience as her behaviour becomes more and more unhinged and yet we can empathise with her desperation. I found the book a real page-turner, even if a disturbing and troubling one. The author is even-handed in her approach to the toxic relationship and even though Johanna is the narrator, so we see everything from her point of view, we still appreciate the mother’s and sister’s anguish, which is equally valid. An excellent read.

"To mother is to murder" brilliantly captures the essence of this book. It's a tough and unforgiving read, but it's toxicity and frustrating protagonist make for a compelling story. The novel explores grief, familial trauma, and a very toxic mother/daughter relationship. It perhaps could have benefitted from more thriller aspects, as suggested in the blurb, though the writing creates a really strong manic atmosphere that was enough for me.

Looking forward to reading Vigdis Hjorth's previous books!

Would it be a recap by yours truly without some depressing international literature? Hjorth probes estranged mother-daughter relationships with all of the heart-pounding suspense of a psychological thriller.

I included this title in my summer/fall preview for Book & Film Globe: https://bookandfilmglobe.com/fiction/nine-books-to-escape-with-for-fall/

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Is Mother Dead follows our unreliable narrator, Johanna, in her attempt to reconnect with her family. While she frames this as an effort to understand her mother, she clearly wishes to be forgiven for her transgressions, believing that a mother's love cannot truly be rescinded. As the book escalates, one can feel the mania rising through the sentence structure, which drew me in immediately. This book is perfect for readers who enjoy experimental structures as well as a "thinky woman." I have been enjoying Norweigan literature as of late, having also read Jenny Hval, and I look forward to reading Hjorth's backlist!

Is mother dead is a very heavy book looking at a toxic mother-daughter relationship. I enjoyed the writing but it was very tough to read at times.

What do you do when you're at a crossroads?

Johanna felt out of place in her family. Unsupported, under stimulated, and forced into a traditional marriage fit for a good girl. A stable life. The right life. A life she abandoned for a chance at love with a different man. For art. For passion. Her family estrangement was a footnote in a rich life with a supportive husband and son and a rewarding career as a working artist, but Johanna's world is turned upside down after the death of her husband.

Stripped of her long time partner, Johanna sloughs through her days until she makes the decision to move back to her hometown in support of a major instillation in a nearby museum. Her family cut contact years ago, but without her husband, the center of her richly independent life, she begins to wonder about the family she left behind.

Is Mother Dead is a claustrophobic read that closes you in a room with Johanna as what started as an innocent "what if" snowballs into a dangerous obsession. Though compulsive in its sadness and completely relatable in its search for relief from intolerable grief, this fell short of the thriller promised by its blurb. Rather, you'll find an exploration of family, grief, and the journey for what truly defines you.

Thank you to Verso and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I really enjoy Hjorth's writing style with it's sharp observations and strong interior dialogue; but ultimately the story line and theme was too similar to a previous novel of hers called 'Will and Testament' with strained parental relationships and disconnected siblings. I think if I hadn't read that yet I would have enjoyed it more.

"How I love my Mum in the bathroom with the razor blade, the desperate Mum of my past."

This novel is a harrowing and relentless and unforgiving read, and is not on any level a pleasant one, and in these ways it fulfills its purpose perfectly. It remains laser-focused on developing its singular theme. It not only tells the story of an obsessive toxic relationship between a mother and her estranged middle-aged child, but also forces the reader to live inside it as they read forward to the end.

I'm a huge fan of Hjorth and this one did not disappoint at all. Psychologically insightful, gripping - a page-turner! I plan to reread it soon and will recommend widely.