It’s the 18th of November, and Tara Setter wakes yet again to the same day, every morning it’s precisely the same and so she no longer expects to get to the 19th of November as this day has been repeated 121 times so far. Along with her husband Thomas, Tara is an antiquarian book dealer. On the 17th of November she travels by train from her home in Clairon-Sous-Bous in Northern France to a book auction in Bordeaux, she buys a few books and takes the return journey, staying overnight in Paris as she has an appointment the next day. In addition Thomas asks her to collect and find a few rare book titles. The following day does not seem unusual, errands are run and appointments are kept and she spends a pleasant evening with a coin dealer friend and his girlfriend. Fast forward to the 364th Groundhog Day, can she break the pattern?

If you want to read something a little bit different that is well written than this book may very well fit the bill. However, it is worth noting that this is the first of a series of seven. Book one is comparatively short and although I think it’s a little bit slow it’s not in least bit dull, in fact it’s an intense read.

The sensation she feels of the state of stasis, of the constant repetition are beautifully described. It’s so unsettling with the improbability of it all. You witness how her feelings change with every repeated day, her close intense observations of other changes and the hunger for an answer accompanying the fears she inevitably feels.

It is obviously all on the same theme with the monotony of the repetition of each day and of course her inevitable desire to finally get to the 19th but I find something intriguing in the high-quality writing and of course, she does notice some tiny points of difference. I especially like how the author deals with Tara‘s relationship with Thomas which is a fascinating thing and you witness his bafflement and willingness to understand but also how things change between them.

The ending can be viewed in one of two ways, either it’s not at all satisfactory because …. spoiler… or you’ll be eager to see what happens next in the next volume. Where do I stand? I’m intrigued enough to want to continue to volume two, as to whether my enthusiasm will be sustained to volume seven entirely depends on what happens next!

Overall, I think this is a beautiful written novel with a terrific, smooth translation from the original Danish.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to the publishers for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Rather a frustrating book I wish I’d picked it up on 18th November !

I picked up this novel because I really love time travel novels and this story is about a woman who repeatedly lives the same day over and over in a Groundhog Day style
I found it rather dull story it’s rather monotonous and the explanation as to why this happened to her is not clear
Probably Because the day repeats itself so the novel ends up repeating itself multiple times I became either keen for something different to happen. The author focuses on the emotions and feelings that this predicament raises with the woman who it happened to and also with her husband who lives in normal time and has to have , her problem explained to him every day. Ultimately this becomes too much to handle and avoiding him is an easier option.
I didn’t feel that the story was brought to a very good end and I found the end rather on unsatisfactory
the author is a Danish writer and has written a number of other novels which I have written I understand that this novel is the first in a series and I am a bit conflicted now whether or not to read the second one see if it explains things any better as reading it as a standalone novel I was wondering.

The authors writing style is clear and the novel is is easily read although I found it quite taxing to stick with because of its monotony, this may be something specific to this authors style of writing and other readers may find it more enjoyable
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley. The book is published in the UK on the 10th of April 2025 by Faber and Faber Ltd.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, StoryGraph, Goodreads and my book blog bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon.

Tara Selter lives the Eighteenth of November on repeat forcing her to meditate on the extraordinary nature of life: “That we exist at all. That each of us has come into being as only one of untold possibilities.” A fellow reviewer noted that the novel is somewhat like a “meditative literary version” of The Groundhog Day movie. Personally I kept thinking of the movie “About Time” and in particular the advice to use the time travel to absolutely savour every tiny moment of every single ordinary day. Tara spends most of her time wondering why time has fractured and how she can slip back through the fracture, meanwhile “I talk to no one, but my world acquires more and more details, I pluck words from a world with many voices, from a mood that lends colour…Too many words pour in, the day becomes heavier, slower, comes to a halt.” Excited to read the other six volumes. Special thank you to Faber & NetGalley for a no obligation advance digital review copy.

Tara and her husband Thomas run an antiquarian book business from their home in France. One November 17th she sets off for Paris having booked herself into her usual hotel. The following day starts like any other but there’s a curious coincidence at the breakfast buffet when a guest drops a piece of bread on the floor as they did yesterday. More alarmingly, the daily paper proclaims the date to be November 18th, and Thomas has no recollection of last night's telephone conversation. So begins a year in which Tara is trapped in that November day, able to vary her own version while others perform the same actions for the first time.
Balle’s novel is structured as a diary. Each section is headed with the number of the current iteration of November 18th Tara’s living through as she records her experience – the daily recaps with an astonished Thomas, their mutual scientific investigations, the days in which they wrap themselves up in each other, her eventual retreat into the guest room and avoidance of her husband as he carries out precisely the same actions as he did the day before. Tara and Thomas’s surprisingly easy acceptance of her ordeal is a bit of a stretch but, obviously, readers’ belief must be suspended from the first page. It’s a novel you’ll likely either enjoy or find infuriating. I was intrigued by the puzzle of what it might mean - a metaphor for Tara and Thomas's marriage, a form of dementia or just your standard Kafkaesque nightmare - but I’m unlikely to continue with Balle’s series through its seven volumes.

As intriguing as it sounded! The perfect balance between high concept and domestic, full of compassion and empathy for Tara, and her relationships with the inevitably ignorant Thomas, thought-provoking on how each of our lives bring relentless miniature destructions that can pass seemingly unnoticed by us and those around us, and, above all. a gripping and original plot. I can't wait to read the next volume of this stunning journey.

Tara Selter is living the same day, the 18th of November, over and over again. This is not Groundhog Day, it is not played for laughs or for the mystery, but instead Solvej Valley uses the gimmick to explore the nature of time, of memory, and of living in the moment. It is beautifully written (and translated from the Danish) and it becomes more engaging the deeper you get into it. A word of warning: this is just the first volume in a seven novel cycle, so reading this volume and reviewing it is like only reviewing a work based on a few chapters. I am very keen to read the remaining volumes in the series - all of which I expect are forthcoming. I can recommend this thoroughly, though you may want to wait until all the books are out before starting it yourself. But if you do decide to pick it up, you are in for a real literary treat.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

Really strange, fascinating and mesmerising. But also depressing. And to be honest, I’m not sure if I believed in it, that someone would be able to live through the same day again and again and not go mad or kill themselves. Not for me I’m afraid.
Thank you Faber & Faber and Netgalley UK for the ARC.

This is the first instalment of a seven-part series of novels about a woman, Tara Selter, who wakes up every day on 18 November. Somewhere during the night, things are reset and return to how they were at dawn on the 18th. And so the day endlessly repeats itself, in a loop, with only Tara noticing and growing older and trying to escape, but also somehow enjoying the monotony of everyday life and the intimate knowledge of each and every sound.

As you read, the hope of an escape - or at least some development towards solving the mystery - is always in the back of your mind, as she enlists the help of her partner or returns to place where it all started...but deep down you know the pleasure of a solution is probably not going to be granted.

Solvej Balle is a Danish novelist that I had not heard of before, but apparently enjoyed some success in the nineties with works inspired by Kafka and Borges. This 'Calculation of Volume' series is said to be her big comeback.

I enjoyed it a lot and am quite eager to get to Part 2, but I wonder if I will have the patience to sit it out until Part 7...

An interesting concept - Tara is stuck in fault in time. Her day keeps repeating and repeating - in fact a year’s worth of repeats. The writing is immersive and I found myself reading faster and faster to find out if Tara can find a way out of her nightmare. Alas, an inconclusive cliffhanger which leaves you wondering’Did she or didn’t she?’ And then I find out there are more books to follow. I will have to be patient! ( and hope that my many questions and niggles are resolved…….. )

The premise of this short book is that Tara Selter, who with her husband runs an online antiquarian book business, goes to Paris on a buying trip and suddenly becomes enmeshed in a fault in time which leads her to live the same day over and over again. Not quite like Groundhog Day, though: some small things change, and the experience prompts some deep reflections on how we live our lives. Tara moves from puzzlement through fear and anguish. Tension builds as she devises strategies to force her time to move on to the next day and the reader shares her disappointment and sadness when they don't work.

The book is beautifully written - I think the translator has done a brilliant job. But the cliffhanger ending left me unsatisfied. And then I discovered that there are further books in the series, seven in all. I am looking forward to reading the next volume, out next spring.

Thanks to Faber and Netgalley for the ARC.

I really don't know what to make of this. The writing flows well and is compelling. The situation that Tara finds herself in is bizarre, terrifying and unimaginable. Her husband believes her and they try to work out what to do together, but then she drifts off and lives a ghost-like existance. As the anniversary of November 18th arrives, she tries to re-create her day, hoping for change. She confides in friends who do not believe her and are, in fact, horrified. We leave her hoping for a resolution. I have read that this is the first volume of a heptology!! I need to read more. Groundhog Day this is not.