The Sea Cemetery is a family saga.The Falck family have been powerful in Norway for years .Vera Lind aged 75 yrs old commits suicide by throwing herself into the sea .Her Will goes missing. In 1940 a ship with Norwegian civilians and German soldiers is wrecked off the Norwegian coast Vera and her Mother were rescued ,now it seems a manuscript exists called The Sea Cemetery which could destroy the Family .Vera's Granddaughter is determined to find it .An intriguing thriller .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC

In 1940 the Hurtigruten ship Princesse Raganilde was destroyed by a British mine and among the dead was Thor Falcke, a rich businessman. His wife and child survived and went on to develop SAGA, an empire with worldwide reach. When the matriarch dies without a will being found there is dispute between the two branches of the family. There may be links between the events of 1940 and modern day war in the Middle East.
There is the germ of a decent story here but the book loses much in making the parallel storylines. I couldn't engage with the modern day plotline set in Kurdistan, I worked out very early on how it was relevant but it just seemed repetitive. The big reveal was guessed incredibly early in the book as well. However, I did enjoy the main part of the book about secrets around collaboration.

There may be an interesting story in here but I can't get past the choppy prose. Repetitions, awkward phrasing - it just doesn't flow. DNF

The first part of a planned trilogy about the Falck family, that is a slow burner, but really zings with energy and hidden secrets galore.
The first person we are introduced to is Hans Falck, he is rescuing a baby from a refugee camp. This infant will be important to the story.
The major event that underpins the whole novel is the sinking of a ferry during the Second World War. The Falck family own this large shipping line and during the period of Nazi occupation, they outwardly appear to be patriots and supportive of the Norwegian resistance, whilst secretly allowing the Germans to use their ships to transport troops and ammunition to supply the war effort. They make a large amount of money from these activities. The question of how the ship sank is fundamental, was it due to a British mine, or onboard sabotage.
The family matriarch is Vera, a writer. She knows the truth behind the ferry sinking, but what she has been keeping secret , will ultimately destroy everything her proud family believe to be true. Vera has written about these events in a manuscript called the Sea Cemetery and put it in a safe place alongside her will, but when the time comes…… both have vanished.
A difficult novel to get involved with, the story is intense and satisfying, very dark in places. There aren’t many nice characters, and there are a couple of bombshells that really make you jump, a typical complex and atmospheric saga.
I hope someone has picked up the film rights for this, my expectations for the next two instalments are high, I would love to read them. I have an inkling of where these events will go, but it is an amazing start to a great adventure. Five stars.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Quercus books, for my advanced digital read, freely given in exchange for my honest review. I will a copy of this to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

A Norwegian family divided. The Bergman branch poor as paupers with an idealistic head of family. The Oslo branch richer than Kings with a hard nosed successful businessman as the patriarch. A country divided by German occupation experiences the sinking of a ship with huge losses. Secrets and lies in a convoluted cover up for 75 years are about to be unearthed. A tangled web of intrigue and deceptions begin to emerge resulting from the death of the much loved by some and feared.by others member of the family. What follows is a compelling story covering several genres all stemming from the actions of individuals during the Second World War resulting in the status, personalities , problems and actions of descendants over the following three quarters of a century. A totally unexpected and involved piece of superb writing covering every aspect of what a 5* story should deliver. Cannot recommend this book too highly. It was a compelling page turner from first to last page , well researched and with an exquisite storyline followed by an amazing conclusion from a gifted author that leaves the reader squirming in both shock and amazement. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Translated from Norwegian by Deborah Dawkin, The Sea Cemetery (2024) by Aslak Nore is a family saga and crime thriller. A difficult read initially, with lots of characters and strange names to place, as the story meanders in introducing the various members of the Falck family. It also moves abruptly between different time periods while establishing the backdrop of an actual historic ship sinking in 1940 (blamed on mines laid by the British). The recent death of her grandmother and her missing testament (will), prompts Sasha Falck to investigate the life of her grandmother. The tale of two families and their hidden secrets combines into an average two and a half stars read rating. With thanks to Quercus Books and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without inducement.

A literary thriller with a slow unravelling. I am not a fan of family sagas and the slow narrative meant I was unable to finish.

Aslak Nore's "The Sea Cemetery" is a masterfully crafted literary thriller that immerses readers in a convoluted yet intriguing tale of overwhelming family wealth, secrets, and more secrets. Set near Oslo and Bergen in Norway, the novel explores the complexities of the wealthy Falck family as they navigate a tangled, or perhaps intricately woven, web of inheritance disputes, historical mysteries, and vendettas.

The Sea Cemetery's intricately woven plot is at once challenging and compelling, and kept me turning pages quickly until the very end. The story unfolds with the death of the family matriarch, whose lack of a will sets off a chain of events that unearth long-buried secrets and scandals spanning generations. From the patriarch's marriage to a working-class girl (who becomes the family's matriarch), to the sinking of the SS Prinsesse Ragnhild during World War II and clandestine dealings with the Nazis, to intriguing behaviour by a lone wolf agent in Iraq, on behalf of the Norwegian government's war on terror, the novel is filled with twists and turns that keep readers guessing until the very last page.

The Sea Cemetery is an absorbing and enjoyable read that will appeal to fans of literary thrillers and epic family sagas. With its rich collection of characters, evocative setting, and absorbing plot, this novel is truly remarkable.

The text describes a novel centered around a shipwreck off the coast of Norway in 1940 involving Vera Lind, her husband Thor Falck, and their baby. Seventy-five years later, after Vera's suicide, a missing will linked to her manuscript "The Cemetery of the Sea" adds complexity to the inheritance dispute between the two branches of the Falck family. Concurrently, Johnnie Omar Berg, falsely accused of being an ISIS jihadist, faces imprisonment in Kurdistan. Vera's granddaughter Sasha, alongside Berg, untangles the past, revealing connections to the present. The plot unfolds through structured chapters, integrating excerpts from Vera's manuscript. Character development is notable, portraying Vera's evolution and contrasting the Falck family leaders. The author, Aslak Nore, presents a dilemma regarding seeking truth versus maintaining present stability. The conclusion, while not entirely surprising, offers a fitting twist, potentially paving the way for a sequel. Overall, the book is recommended for its intricate plot and character depth.

There is no love lost between the Oslo and Bergen branches of the powerful Falck family. So when its steely matriarch dies with no will to be found, the seeds of an inheritance dispute are sown.

I found this book slow and initially difficult to get into. There was little flow as in the early stages the characters were introduced, often in different time lines too. There are lots of different characters introduced and I found it difficult to remember who’s who. I found myself flicking past pages as the story dragged. Sadly, it didn’t work for me.

A really interesting read about a real ship that sank in Norway. Add warring families and a crime element and there is a lot to chew over here. Its part of a series and this is going to be a good one if this is anything to go by.

Tell me about an historical fact and mystery, a family torn by some deep secrets and a journalist digging up the dirt and I am all in! I liked a lot about this book before even picking it, among which, its mysterious title.

The Falck family is a powerful one, though one branch more than the other. When Vera Lind, the grandmother dies, both branches will search frantically for the disappeared will and the untold story of Vera, to secure their places. Sasha, her granddaughter and archivist of the family seems to be the ideal person to uncover the truth regarding the Prinsess Ragnhild, lost at see in 1940, that is the origin of it all.

Though the setup sounded perfect, I had a bit of a difficult time getting into it. The first chapters were focusing in turn on different characters of the Falck family, partly in different timeline and with the unfamiliar Norwegian names, I had issues keeping track of who's who, especially since there was no family tree. It took me a while to figure out who Hans Falck was within the family. Once in the story, I really wanted to learn more about the Hurtigruten ship, the local occupation by Germany and how Sasha would deal with all the information she would gather.

I never felt attached to Sasha, though I think the author did not want to make her especially likeable. I regretted that she did not sound to believable though: at the beginning, she would be extremely wary of the family secrets, then suddenly open up a lot before changing her mind again. That did not feel all too logical.

The ending was savage both in the historical timeline as in the actual. The book felt a bit long but once done, it was a satisfying reading. 3.5/5 easily rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an ARC of this entertaining book in exchange for my honest opinion. It sure broadened my horizon and made me want to learn more about Norway and the WWII in this region of the world.

The Sea Cemetery by Aslak Nore and translated by Deborah Dawkin is an incredible novel that turned me inside out and stitched me back up again. I had heard of Aslak Nore previously and as such, was keen to read a book of theirs (and I am glad I finally got the chance in this book)

The Sea Cemetery is the first book in the Falck Saga and I will be certainly adding this series to my TBR as the writing is exceptional. Translated beautifully by Deborha Dawkin who retains the passion of the story, the strength and emotion. The entire atmosphere of the book is encapsulating and thrilling

Another key factor of this book, is how it blends fact and fiction almost seamlessly, to create a powerful thriller and family saga (I would almost say reminiscent of the Wilbur Smith Courtney Saga in the strength of writing)

Absolutely a page turner, authentic, thrilling, fascinating and captivating. A saga to get behind

Thank you to Netgalley, Quercus Books, MacLehose Press, the author Aslak Nore and translator Deborah Dawkin for this incredible ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own