Una, Unwanted

This is the story of Una who spend time with her father periodically until she was about 8. From this moment on he never returns and as she grows older she becomes increasingly obsessed with reconnecting with him.

The image she has in her head of her father is very much based on his public persona and it becomes clear throughout the book that behind the persona that she has gotten to know and admire via social media and YouTube hides a fragile man that is surrounded by darkness, insecurities and a distorted and inflated self image.

It took me a while to get into the story as the writing style is a little stoic. We follow the scattered thoughts of either Una or Tor (her father) where the inner voices intermingle with dialogue and descriptions of surroundings. However, once I warmed up to the style and the story picked up pace I was at the edge of my seat needing to know what would happen next.

The book in general picks up different threads of mental health disorders… Una works at a mental health clinic in Norway. Tor is clearly a narcissist. Various characters deal with depression, PTSD (from childhood trauma) and the author manages to portray the inner dialogue of each character in each context very well.

I also liked that the ending drew a general conclusion, but also allows the reader to fill in some of the blanks.

I’ve seen that some reviews include trigger warnings for childhood sexual abuse, which is fair. The theme was definitely touched on, but the author managed to deal with them with tact without being overly explicit.

I would have liked the author to have spent more time developing some of the characters to gain an even deeper understanding, but have overall thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Overall, I loved the blend of darkness, authenticity and humor. I was rooting for Una and Kalle, felt compassion for her mother, Erna and even Tor, despite their character flaws and mistakes. I have read this book being compared to Fredrik Backman, which I see, but I would describe Backman’s style as a little more refined.

Wow wow wow this was haunting

Una has spent her life grappling with her father's infrequent presence - and eventual abandonment of her - in her childhood. She fills the void looking at his social media posts, watching his motivational YouTube videos, and fantasizing about the day they're reunited. Although there isn't necessarily anything wrong with her life, the feeling that something is missing niggles at her, and her mother and best friend's struggle to understand her point of view leave her feeling further ostracized.

I hugely related to Una's disillusion with her life - I, too, think far too often about how if something hadn't been the way it was, I could have been a different person; and I seem to constantly be confronted with things I would have been better off not knowing about.

The tone of the book is quite stoic, almost cold and detached, and you think not much is happening until it is; but the change of pace is incredible towards the end - I had 5% left to read at the end of my lunchbreak and I was livid having to put it down until I finished my shift.

4 stars on account of the ambiguous ending (I understand but I also do not like having a neatly tied-up conclusion, it reminds me too much of my own life) but I feel like I'll be thinking about this one for a while! TW for mild descriptions of CSA.

Una, Unwanted has a lot going for it: plenty of themes to get your teeth into and characters with real depth.

Una is a child conceived during an affair. In her early years, her father would return regularly to see her, but then his visits stopped abruptly. Now an adult, Una lives for only one thing: to be reunited with her beloved father. She believes that this is all she needs to heal her loneliness.

Her father is a charismatic self-help guru, the MotivaTor. He appears to Una to be a wonderful personal with a loving family, adored by his audiences. Una obsessively follows everything he posts on YouTube and social media, trying to work up the courage to make herself known to him.

As the reader suspects from the start, Tor is not the wonderful person he pretends to be, and all does not work out smoothly. The novel touches on dark themes that I can't really list without spoilers. It also shines a harsh spotlight on the world of self-help gurus and motivational speakers.

I did like the way the novel contrasts the apparently 'broken' people (e.g. Una) with the apparently 'enlightened' (her father, notably), then turns the tables on the cast of characters to reveal who, really, is damaged, and who is responsible for the damage done. There are passages that are extremely moving, some that are quite horrifying. The ending is all in all a satisfying twist.

Una, Unwanted is also, I believe, a critique of Norwegian/Scandinavian society and values. Having spent much of my life with connections to Scandinavia, there is a vein of hypocrisy that I recognise here: a hypocrisy that underlies the schism between the sanitised picture that people present of themselves, their family, their lifestyle and their values, and a reality that is much darker. Obviously, it's silly to generalise and sweep entire cultures with a broad brush, but this feels -- to me, an outsider -- pretty true to what I have observed.

So all in all, a good story, strong characterisation and insightful observations.

I was less enamoured of the translation. The prose is not smooth, expressions sometimes seem to be too literally translated and the dialogue doesn't always quite ring true. I kept wondering if the translator might be a non-native English speaker (albeit with an excellent command of English).

3.5*

My thanks to the publisher Books on Demand, the author and @NetGalley_UK for providing an ARC. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.
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