First published 2009
In a Danish coastal town, two siblings cling to each other against a world that has abandoned them. The sister dreams of fleeing to the vast expanses of Siberia, imagining a place where she and her brother might finally be safe. But as war spreads across Europe, her brother grows into manhood and is drawn toward the Danish resistance against Nazi occupation. The sister watches helplessly as the only person who has ever mattered to her slips away into a dangerous underground world. She must confront the possibility that her dreams of escape mean nothing if she faces them alone. Petterson follows both siblings as they struggle with forces beyond their control, examining how war tears apart the most intimate bonds and how people survive when everything familiar disappears.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, siblings
Setting: Denmark, Siberia
Period: World War II
245 pages · Paperback · Picador
Content warnings: war