What do you think?
Rate this book
The Seventh Child
Winner of the 2012 Glass Key Award given by the members of the Crime Writers of Scandinavia
All the best homes are by the water, or so the matron of Kongslund Orphanage tells her small charges. But at this particular house by the sea, not all is as it appears.
On September 11, 2001, on a desolate beach on the outskirts of Copenhagen, police begin investigating the strange death of an unidentified woman. Surrounding the body are what appear to be offerings to the deceased: a book, a small noose, a dead golden canary, a linden tree branch, and a photo of the Kongslund Orphanage. As the police puzzle over their bizarre findings, the Twin Towers fall in walls of flame and the case is quickly overshadowed by the terror half a world away.
Years later, as the sixtieth anniversary of the matron’s reign at Kongslund approaches, identical anonymous letters are sent to six of the home’s former residents, hinting at a cover-up that has allowed Denmark’s most influential to hide away their dirty secrets and keep their grip on power. As one tenacious reporter hunts for clues, he begins to unravel the true parentage of some of Kongslund’s “orphans.” Can he figure out who is sending the mysterious letters and who murdered the woman on the beach years earlier before it is too late?
All the best homes are by the water, or so the matron of Kongslund Orphanage tells her small charges. But at this particular house by the sea, not all is as it appears.
On September 11, 2001, on a desolate beach on the outskirts of Copenhagen, police begin investigating the strange death of an unidentified woman. Surrounding the body are what appear to be offerings to the deceased: a book, a small noose, a dead golden canary, a linden tree branch, and a photo of the Kongslund Orphanage. As the police puzzle over their bizarre findings, the Twin Towers fall in walls of flame and the case is quickly overshadowed by the terror half a world away.
Years later, as the sixtieth anniversary of the matron’s reign at Kongslund approaches, identical anonymous letters are sent to six of the home’s former residents, hinting at a cover-up that has allowed Denmark’s most influential to hide away their dirty secrets and keep their grip on power. As one tenacious reporter hunts for clues, he begins to unravel the true parentage of some of Kongslund’s “orphans.” Can he figure out who is sending the mysterious letters and who murdered the woman on the beach years earlier before it is too late?
642 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
357 people are currently reading
2813 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 364 reviews
March 28, 2014
ARC for review.
Dear God in heaven, I thought I would never finish this book. My copy is an electronic ARC and doesn't have page numbers, therefore I must estimate, and my low guess is that this book was 38,719 pages long. And that was 38,532 pages too many. What I did have was the Kindle % of book left and I got depressed each day when I saw how much I had left. It was that bad. It was all too much - too many characters, too many (often pointless) stories and just way too many words.
The book is clearly an attempt to capitalize on the waning trend of popular crime novels from Scandinavian countries and this one takes place in Denmark. Allow me to say that if this is the biggest crime story in Denmark, then Denmark is an idyllic paradise where no locks or mace would ever be needed (I was confused by the epilogue and the author's notes - is this based on a true story? I would check but I don't want to subject myself to any more of this tale, true or not.) In a nutshell there are seven children in an orphanage and one of them is.....well, isn't who he seems to be. Several of the children have, as adults, reached varying levels of national prominence in their fields which makes the whole thing....not one single bit more interesting. The scandal is about as boring as scandal can be.
One thing that is clear about Valeur - he has a REAL chip on his shoulder about adoption. Time and time again he returns to the idea that damaged adults want to adopt a child and the children are automatically scarred for life (this despite the fact that the children in this book are all adopted as infants).
The only good things I can say are that the writing is decent (though the plot is not) and the translation seems to be done well. However this thriller is the opposite of thrilling - I'm not glad I read it and I'm grateful that it's over.
Dear God in heaven, I thought I would never finish this book. My copy is an electronic ARC and doesn't have page numbers, therefore I must estimate, and my low guess is that this book was 38,719 pages long. And that was 38,532 pages too many. What I did have was the Kindle % of book left and I got depressed each day when I saw how much I had left. It was that bad. It was all too much - too many characters, too many (often pointless) stories and just way too many words.
The book is clearly an attempt to capitalize on the waning trend of popular crime novels from Scandinavian countries and this one takes place in Denmark. Allow me to say that if this is the biggest crime story in Denmark, then Denmark is an idyllic paradise where no locks or mace would ever be needed (I was confused by the epilogue and the author's notes - is this based on a true story? I would check but I don't want to subject myself to any more of this tale, true or not.) In a nutshell there are seven children in an orphanage and one of them is.....well, isn't who he seems to be. Several of the children have, as adults, reached varying levels of national prominence in their fields which makes the whole thing....not one single bit more interesting. The scandal is about as boring as scandal can be.
One thing that is clear about Valeur - he has a REAL chip on his shoulder about adoption. Time and time again he returns to the idea that damaged adults want to adopt a child and the children are automatically scarred for life (this despite the fact that the children in this book are all adopted as infants).
The only good things I can say are that the writing is decent (though the plot is not) and the translation seems to be done well. However this thriller is the opposite of thrilling - I'm not glad I read it and I'm grateful that it's over.
February 24, 2014
3.5 stars
If you browse through reviews for this novel, you'll see they run the gamut. I think it's because this is a polarizing book, not popular fiction for the masses. It will appeal to fans of slow, introspective & thoughtful reads. And you'll have to be someone who enjoys a tome you can tuck into. At over 700 pages, this is not a beach book.
Set in Copenhagen, it chronicles the lives of 7 children from their births to middle age. They ended up in an orphanage within days of being born in 1961 & were all adopted except one.
The story begins with a flashback to Sept. 11, 2001. A woman is found dead on the shore of the sound by the orphanage. Police are not sure what to think....accidental death or murder? She has no ID & is surrounded by a weird assortment of objects: a noose, a book, a tree branch & a dead canary. But within hours she's relegated to the back burner as the Twin Towers fall & the world's attention turns to terrorism.
Kongslund has always been an impressive property in an affluent area of the city & was ruled for 60 years by a formidable matron, Magna Ladegaard. In the present day, the orphanage & the city are preparing for a big anniversary party in her honour. It has long been supported by the Danish government & held up as a shining example of family values & all it stands for.
That's why when a mysterious letter begins circulating, alluding to a scandal at Kongslund in 1961, it shakes up not only the staff but the most powerful men in office.
What if not all the babies came from unwed mothers or families in dire circumstances? What if the powerful and/or famous used the orphanage as a dumping ground for pregnancies resulting from illicit or improper affairs?
Magna was known for her strict rules of adoption. The mother never saw the baby & no identifying information was given to the new parents. If the child required medical attention, they got the best to ensure optimal health. But in 1961, one of the 7 babies seemed beyond repair.
They called her Marie. In the subsequent media frenzy, staff described finding the little girl on the doorstep & she became famous as the Kongslund foundling. But Marie's lack of history was the least of her problems. She was severely deformed with misshapen digits, a twisted spine & asymmetrical face. So Magna decided Marie would be her project & adopted her. By 2008, Magna has retired & moved out but Marie never left.
Now in her 40's, Marie is the main protagonist & much of the story is told in her voice, She introduces the reader to each of the characters. The rest of the cast includes the other 6 children, their adoptive families, orphanage staff & 3 men in government: the current (dying) prime minister, the Minister of National Affairs (& next PM) & a sinister former cop who is now head of security for the ministry.
Each character then has a large section in the book detailing their last 40 years. Slowly, we become aware just how intertwined their lives have always been, even if they had no idea. The 7 all crossed paths over the years, unaware they once shared a nursery. Some didn't even know they were adopted until they each received a copy of the letter in 2008. It contained the names of a woman & the child she gave up in 1961. For some reason, this causes a massive but covert investigation by the security chief on behalf of the ministers. But which one of the seven is the child in the letter? All given names were immediately changed once they arrived in Kongslund & original documents destroyed. More importantly, why is the letter stirring up so much fear & urgency?
This is a book that grabbed my attention right away. The main plot line reeks of mystery & secrets and there is a slowly mounting sense of dread from the start. However, I found the middle section bogged down as we are told the history of each person. I understand the need to flesh out the characters so we understand how events shaped them but some editing would have helped move things along & maintain the feeling of suspense. At the end of almost every chapter there is a sentence hinting at something dramatic right around the corner but it lost its' effect after awhile.
But I really wanted to know who the seventh child was & the identity of their parents as this is obviously the crux of the entire plot. After another 200 pages or so, the pace picked up & the last quarter was a page turner as all was revealed with some clever twists & startling revelations.
None of these people are easy to like & almost all have done terrible things. There were also a couple I really detested & I'm happy to say they got what they deserved.There is also a mystical element that flows through the whole book & almost all of the 7 main characters are prone to talking to the dead. It's not clear whether some of the relationships were real or imagined.
This is not a book you want to put down for too long. The large cast & frequent shifts in time frame are difficult to follow at times & you have to pay attention. It's a story that encompasses the themes of childhood, family, politics, xenophobia & hypocrisy. It's incredibly complex & I can't begin to imagine how long it took the author to conceive of all the threads & weave them together.
There are many moments that are sad, poignant & desperate but ultimately, it's about hope & deciding your own fate rather than accepting the hand you you're dealt.
If you browse through reviews for this novel, you'll see they run the gamut. I think it's because this is a polarizing book, not popular fiction for the masses. It will appeal to fans of slow, introspective & thoughtful reads. And you'll have to be someone who enjoys a tome you can tuck into. At over 700 pages, this is not a beach book.
Set in Copenhagen, it chronicles the lives of 7 children from their births to middle age. They ended up in an orphanage within days of being born in 1961 & were all adopted except one.
The story begins with a flashback to Sept. 11, 2001. A woman is found dead on the shore of the sound by the orphanage. Police are not sure what to think....accidental death or murder? She has no ID & is surrounded by a weird assortment of objects: a noose, a book, a tree branch & a dead canary. But within hours she's relegated to the back burner as the Twin Towers fall & the world's attention turns to terrorism.
Kongslund has always been an impressive property in an affluent area of the city & was ruled for 60 years by a formidable matron, Magna Ladegaard. In the present day, the orphanage & the city are preparing for a big anniversary party in her honour. It has long been supported by the Danish government & held up as a shining example of family values & all it stands for.
That's why when a mysterious letter begins circulating, alluding to a scandal at Kongslund in 1961, it shakes up not only the staff but the most powerful men in office.
What if not all the babies came from unwed mothers or families in dire circumstances? What if the powerful and/or famous used the orphanage as a dumping ground for pregnancies resulting from illicit or improper affairs?
Magna was known for her strict rules of adoption. The mother never saw the baby & no identifying information was given to the new parents. If the child required medical attention, they got the best to ensure optimal health. But in 1961, one of the 7 babies seemed beyond repair.
They called her Marie. In the subsequent media frenzy, staff described finding the little girl on the doorstep & she became famous as the Kongslund foundling. But Marie's lack of history was the least of her problems. She was severely deformed with misshapen digits, a twisted spine & asymmetrical face. So Magna decided Marie would be her project & adopted her. By 2008, Magna has retired & moved out but Marie never left.
Now in her 40's, Marie is the main protagonist & much of the story is told in her voice, She introduces the reader to each of the characters. The rest of the cast includes the other 6 children, their adoptive families, orphanage staff & 3 men in government: the current (dying) prime minister, the Minister of National Affairs (& next PM) & a sinister former cop who is now head of security for the ministry.
Each character then has a large section in the book detailing their last 40 years. Slowly, we become aware just how intertwined their lives have always been, even if they had no idea. The 7 all crossed paths over the years, unaware they once shared a nursery. Some didn't even know they were adopted until they each received a copy of the letter in 2008. It contained the names of a woman & the child she gave up in 1961. For some reason, this causes a massive but covert investigation by the security chief on behalf of the ministers. But which one of the seven is the child in the letter? All given names were immediately changed once they arrived in Kongslund & original documents destroyed. More importantly, why is the letter stirring up so much fear & urgency?
This is a book that grabbed my attention right away. The main plot line reeks of mystery & secrets and there is a slowly mounting sense of dread from the start. However, I found the middle section bogged down as we are told the history of each person. I understand the need to flesh out the characters so we understand how events shaped them but some editing would have helped move things along & maintain the feeling of suspense. At the end of almost every chapter there is a sentence hinting at something dramatic right around the corner but it lost its' effect after awhile.
But I really wanted to know who the seventh child was & the identity of their parents as this is obviously the crux of the entire plot. After another 200 pages or so, the pace picked up & the last quarter was a page turner as all was revealed with some clever twists & startling revelations.
None of these people are easy to like & almost all have done terrible things. There were also a couple I really detested & I'm happy to say they got what they deserved.There is also a mystical element that flows through the whole book & almost all of the 7 main characters are prone to talking to the dead. It's not clear whether some of the relationships were real or imagined.
This is not a book you want to put down for too long. The large cast & frequent shifts in time frame are difficult to follow at times & you have to pay attention. It's a story that encompasses the themes of childhood, family, politics, xenophobia & hypocrisy. It's incredibly complex & I can't begin to imagine how long it took the author to conceive of all the threads & weave them together.
There are many moments that are sad, poignant & desperate but ultimately, it's about hope & deciding your own fate rather than accepting the hand you you're dealt.
June 23, 2012
Uh altså, først var jeg ellevild - sådan ca. de første 150 sider. Men så må jeg sige, at min begejstring kølnedes betragteligt. Gentagelse på gentagelse, helt unødvendige bi-historier, udpenslet politisk indhold, så man til sidst næsten helt havde tabt interessen for indholdet. Ak og ve. Jeg tror sjældent, at jeg er faldet i søvn til en skønlitterær bog så mange gange! Jeg fik dog læst den færdig og fik bekræftet min mistanke om gerningsmand og løsning på bogens gåde. Hvordan i himlens navn har den bog vundet alle de priser?
August 3, 2016
As a reader, I always want to love a book. I certainly don't start a novel with the hopes that it will bore me to tears. But this one nearly did just that.
This story is endless, and not in a good way. There are pages upon pages of nothing happening. Somewhere within it all I'm fairly sure there is a decent plot, though the sheer excess of words left me floundering for some reason to continue this torturous event.
The narration keeps us at a distance, as if we're being told this story by someone who heard someone else telling another person what happened. I never felt connected to the characters. Despite what should have been dramatic material, I didn't feel the emotion.
There are a lot of characters and not a lot of rhyme or reason to the way it's all presented. By the midway point, I thought the weight of the words would crush me into nothingness. I'm sure there is something here to love; I just couldn't find that something.
This story is endless, and not in a good way. There are pages upon pages of nothing happening. Somewhere within it all I'm fairly sure there is a decent plot, though the sheer excess of words left me floundering for some reason to continue this torturous event.
The narration keeps us at a distance, as if we're being told this story by someone who heard someone else telling another person what happened. I never felt connected to the characters. Despite what should have been dramatic material, I didn't feel the emotion.
There are a lot of characters and not a lot of rhyme or reason to the way it's all presented. By the midway point, I thought the weight of the words would crush me into nothingness. I'm sure there is something here to love; I just couldn't find that something.
January 19, 2020
4.5⭐
A nice mystery story, a bit too many details, but in the end all worth it. Actually the end saved the book, because at the begining I wanted to stop a few times.
Strange times after the war.
A nice mystery story, a bit too many details, but in the end all worth it. Actually the end saved the book, because at the begining I wanted to stop a few times.
Strange times after the war.
September 13, 2022
Zelden zo’n complex verhaal gelezen als dit. Op het eind komen alle levensverhalen van de talrijke personages samen en wordt er veel duidelijk. Maar dan merk je ook dat de schrijver een serieuze steek heeft laten vallen. Wil je weten welke? Lees er dan maar zelf alle dichtbedrukte 716 pagina’s op na. Erik Valeur had er wellicht genoeg van – net zoals ik –, besloot de boel de boel te laten en die fout niet recht te trekken. Slecht vind ik het boek niet. Als debuut kan het tellen. Maar het is te dik en valt daarom véél te dikwijls in herhaling, “de lezer zou eens niet mee kunnen zijn!” Ik heb het boek uitgelezen omdat ik wou weten hoe het mysterie eindigt. Maar al te vaak keek ik hoeveel pagina’s ik nog moest. Mijn eindoordeel? Het boek leest vlot maar heeft een teveel aan intriges.
March 16, 2014
Review
I did not enjoy this book at all. Finally 200 pages from the end I gave up. There are no likeable characters in this book. The story about the dead woman on the beach isn't even what most of the book is about. There are way too many other storylines going on. I wish I had picked another book in my queue. I feel like I wasted several days of reading time.
I did not enjoy this book at all. Finally 200 pages from the end I gave up. There are no likeable characters in this book. The story about the dead woman on the beach isn't even what most of the book is about. There are way too many other storylines going on. I wish I had picked another book in my queue. I feel like I wasted several days of reading time.
February 13, 2016
Aburrido a más no poder, se hace eterno. La sinopsis parecía interesante pero empieza a flojear desde el principio y no mejora. Mejor ahorraos el tiempo y leed algo que merezca la pena.
April 12, 2013
Een pageturner ! Het verhaal over zeven volwassenen die als baby voor adoptie werden opgegeven door hun alleenstaande moeder, en wiens lot voor de rest van hun leven met elkaar verbonden blijft. Een verhaal van beschadigde kinderen die men met veel goede wil 'repareren'in een adoptieproces dat totaal geen rekening houdt met de moeder-kind-band, en waar al die eerzame bedoelingen tot weinig 'reparatie' en tot veel extra beschadiging leiden. Een beklemmende beschrijving van de adoptiepraktijken in de jaren '60, die erop gericht waren de 'schande' van de jonge moeders uit te wissen en ... om de misstappen van hun (hooggeplaatste) vaders propertjes uit beeld te houden. Daarbij komt ook nog een goede beschrijving van de politieke 'zeden' die in het hedendaagse Denemarken aan de orde van de dag zijn en - een verhaal van alle tijden - politici die er letterlijk alles voor over hebben om hun fouten uit het verleden verborgen te houden.
Daarenboven een uitstekende thriller die uitnodigt tot lezen, met een verrassend slot. Een kleine bedenking: iets meer dan 700 pagina's is wel iets van het goede te veel, zeker in een ingewikkelde verhaallijn waarin realiteit en waan continu door elkaar lopen.
Daarenboven een uitstekende thriller die uitnodigt tot lezen, met een verrassend slot. Een kleine bedenking: iets meer dan 700 pagina's is wel iets van het goede te veel, zeker in een ingewikkelde verhaallijn waarin realiteit en waan continu door elkaar lopen.
April 28, 2014
I am not going to finish this book, but I am listing it because it has taken up enough of my life to count and I got at least 60% through before I couldn't take it anymore. This is a mystery with political intrigue and more. Probably too much more...
There is an old, old orphanage in Denmark that has been home to many children over the years. One group of children from 1961 who were adopted out to "qualified" families have been brought back together in an attempt to solve the mystery surrounding one of them. Maybe one of them might have had a happy adoptive situation. All the rest were in bad situations where they were made to feel unwanted or less than the ideal. The intrigue goes to the highest office in the land and people who may have the keys to the mystery are dying.
It's not terrible writing, even if the set up was exceedingly long and deliberate. The characterization isn't terrible either, even if there is nothing very lovable about any of the characters. It's just Way. Too. Long. Also, perhaps I should find out if the author was adopted and is working out his issues or something. All the stuff about the miseries of being adopted was just over the top. I did see one review that called it a "page turner" though, so you never know.
There is an old, old orphanage in Denmark that has been home to many children over the years. One group of children from 1961 who were adopted out to "qualified" families have been brought back together in an attempt to solve the mystery surrounding one of them. Maybe one of them might have had a happy adoptive situation. All the rest were in bad situations where they were made to feel unwanted or less than the ideal. The intrigue goes to the highest office in the land and people who may have the keys to the mystery are dying.
It's not terrible writing, even if the set up was exceedingly long and deliberate. The characterization isn't terrible either, even if there is nothing very lovable about any of the characters. It's just Way. Too. Long. Also, perhaps I should find out if the author was adopted and is working out his issues or something. All the stuff about the miseries of being adopted was just over the top. I did see one review that called it a "page turner" though, so you never know.
April 24, 2014
Set in Denmark in 2008, this mystery begins with the body of an unidentified woman found on a beach in 2001. Due to the events of 9/11 the death was ruled accidentally and forgotten by most involved in the case.
Fast forward seven years to five men, all born in 1961, who were given up by their birth mothers to a well-known orphanage, Kongslund. All were adopted and in present day have received a letter with a pair of booties wondering if one of them is John Bjergstrand.
The letters lead a journalist to believe that there has been a cover up that may include members of the government. When the former headmistress' of Kongslund "accidentally" dies, it is certain there was more going on in 1961 than providing a future for the babies of unwed mothers. And what does any of this have to do with a death in 2001?
Valeur finds the details of his narrative important, especially when it comes to characterization. The reader must be patient and think of the book as layers with one being slowly uncovered at a time to gain access to the ultimate truth.
Fast forward seven years to five men, all born in 1961, who were given up by their birth mothers to a well-known orphanage, Kongslund. All were adopted and in present day have received a letter with a pair of booties wondering if one of them is John Bjergstrand.
The letters lead a journalist to believe that there has been a cover up that may include members of the government. When the former headmistress' of Kongslund "accidentally" dies, it is certain there was more going on in 1961 than providing a future for the babies of unwed mothers. And what does any of this have to do with a death in 2001?
Valeur finds the details of his narrative important, especially when it comes to characterization. The reader must be patient and think of the book as layers with one being slowly uncovered at a time to gain access to the ultimate truth.
June 5, 2013
Author
Erik Valeur was born in 1955 in Denmark. He is a journalist and off-stage commentator. He spend the first two years of his life in an orphanage himself and parts of this book are based on his experiences both as child in an orphanage and situations he walked into while doing research for his work.
Review
I saw this book for the first time on a book expo back in September 2012. They only had a cover and a blurb available at that time but I was already intrigued and knew I had to get my hands on this book at some point.
This book touches a lot of sensitive subjects and it might even be a bit to much at points but Erik Valeur did a magnificent job binding them all together making it real.
A big part of the story is on the adoption of children and the mothers giving up theirs. They where not given the choice back than when they where alone and pregnant. Now the government is trying to change the abortion laws back to take that choice away from woman again. Both these situations are very touchy subjects already and give you enough to think on.
The head of the department of homeland security is involved in the whole situation. He is about to take over the highest position as prime minister in the country and he has ideas on abortion fueled by the fact that he and his wife where never able to get children. Besides his important role in the government he is also a patron for the orphanage of Kongslund. He has been involved with the orphanage since World War 2 and so has his, now retired but still solving "little problems", chief of police. You will probably get an idea by now how much intrigue this story holds but also the various subjects when you put all this together.
This makes that it is not a nice summer read. It is a story that needs some work and it will make you think about the choices the people are making. Every decision one of the characters makes leads to a new situation and it really takes 718 pages to unravel the whole story that has been going on for over 40 years.
The characters are many and especially around Ole Almind-Enevold are a lot of people with nicknames making it hard sometimes to keep track. What I really loved is that Valeur takes one of the main characters and introduces this person. You get some background of the person growing up and in what position this person is involved in the whole story. This does mean that with the seven children it takes a few pages to get them all together. There is not one character that is perfect, they all have their flaws and parts I hated and loved about them. The moment you think that one character is the sensitive and good it does something that ruins it. This does make it easy to find something to relate to in every character though.
The book makes for a great puzzle filled with intrigue and diversions making me just as confused as the characters.
Erik Valeur was born in 1955 in Denmark. He is a journalist and off-stage commentator. He spend the first two years of his life in an orphanage himself and parts of this book are based on his experiences both as child in an orphanage and situations he walked into while doing research for his work.
Review
I saw this book for the first time on a book expo back in September 2012. They only had a cover and a blurb available at that time but I was already intrigued and knew I had to get my hands on this book at some point.
This book touches a lot of sensitive subjects and it might even be a bit to much at points but Erik Valeur did a magnificent job binding them all together making it real.
A big part of the story is on the adoption of children and the mothers giving up theirs. They where not given the choice back than when they where alone and pregnant. Now the government is trying to change the abortion laws back to take that choice away from woman again. Both these situations are very touchy subjects already and give you enough to think on.
The head of the department of homeland security is involved in the whole situation. He is about to take over the highest position as prime minister in the country and he has ideas on abortion fueled by the fact that he and his wife where never able to get children. Besides his important role in the government he is also a patron for the orphanage of Kongslund. He has been involved with the orphanage since World War 2 and so has his, now retired but still solving "little problems", chief of police. You will probably get an idea by now how much intrigue this story holds but also the various subjects when you put all this together.
This makes that it is not a nice summer read. It is a story that needs some work and it will make you think about the choices the people are making. Every decision one of the characters makes leads to a new situation and it really takes 718 pages to unravel the whole story that has been going on for over 40 years.
The characters are many and especially around Ole Almind-Enevold are a lot of people with nicknames making it hard sometimes to keep track. What I really loved is that Valeur takes one of the main characters and introduces this person. You get some background of the person growing up and in what position this person is involved in the whole story. This does mean that with the seven children it takes a few pages to get them all together. There is not one character that is perfect, they all have their flaws and parts I hated and loved about them. The moment you think that one character is the sensitive and good it does something that ruins it. This does make it easy to find something to relate to in every character though.
The book makes for a great puzzle filled with intrigue and diversions making me just as confused as the characters.
Read
August 1, 2017Am rezistat doar până la pagina 200. Mi se pare că efectiv nu se întâmplă nimic, citesc și citesc ..dar acțiunea nu se desfășoară. Nu m-a prins, deși descrierea părea exact genul meu.
March 2, 2024
Der er ingen tvivl om, at der er lagt meget arbejde i denne bog. Selve kulissen for fortællingen er utrolig stemningsfuld og smukt beskrevet. Men bogen er alt, alt for lang - og alt, alt for snørklet sat op. Der er alt for mange (unødige) cliffhangere og tidspunkter, hvor personer bevidst skjuler informationer, der kun har til formål at forhale opklaringen. Den er alt for konstrueret og fortænkt. Det hjælper heller ikke, at præmissen med, at afsløringen af de rigtige forældre kan ødelægge karrierer, når vi bor i et land, hvor man kan svindle med regnskaber og alligevel blive valgt til statsminister eller blive dømt i en rigsretssag og alligevel kunne stille op til Folketinget bagefter. Her havde det være mere oplagt at flytte handlingen til et land, hvor borgerne har højere moralske krav til politikerne (hvis det altså findes).
Der er så meget potentiale i denne fortælling. Desværre bliver det ikke for alvor udfoldet.
Der er så meget potentiale i denne fortælling. Desværre bliver det ikke for alvor udfoldet.
January 10, 2016
I don't know how many stars to give this book. It had the makings of a great mystery with some twists along the way, but it is also a very frustrating, annoying and ultimately disappointing read. The author repeats himself a lot (a lot!) and some of his inventions were a bit too contrived to be believable (there is a journalist who is disgraced (before we meet him) because he ran a campaign to have a convicted man released from jail. According to the author the journalist is the reason the man was released, and that man then killed two children before committing suicide, thanking the journalist in his suicide note - but the court will surely base their judgement on evidence or the lack thereof, not on articles in a random newspaper? Or, when he claims that a minister was elected because the Danish people loved his anti-abortion stand, I found it unbelievable. We were the first country in the world to legalise abortion and it is not an issue that takes up any space in the press at all. That a minister could get votes by opposing abortion is simply ludicrous. To me those examples screamed "I must bend reality to fit my purpose".)
So, let's start with the negatives:
None of the characters are likable or interesting, and it annoyed me that all the adoptions portrayed had unhappy outcomes. All the adoptive children are lonely, miserable and in some way responsible for other people's deaths and all of their adoptive parents seem to not care about the children at all - with only one exception. It's a very bleak outlook on life and adoption.
The book is waaaayy too long. We get long descriptions of every character's childhood and they are so effing boring and should have been either cut or cut down to a very few sentences. The story would have been twice as good by being half as long.
The author kept talking about Destiny and the God of Friendship and Fate and how said Fate keeps laughing at us when we make plans, because all plans are futile, we will follow the road dictated to us. We are told that repeatedly throughout the story and it gets annoying. The author also keeps throwing in sentences like "if I had only stayed, things would have been very different" or "if they had listened, they would have heard Fate digging their graves, but of course they didn't" and "in six months two of the three men would be dead" and it annoyed me that the author kept hinting at stuff to happen instead of making the pages I was on interesting. When you are slogging through a boring read you want stuff to happen now, not getting hints that six months from now something will have happened. Also, he used some weird metaphors from time to time.
It's a decent mystery but the author could learn a trick or two from Agatha Christie or other crime writers. The clues are often too heavy or obvious even though the author thinks he has been very subtle, so you can easily figure out big reveals hundreds of pages before they come. And then the big reveal is repeated a few times, just in case you forgot what you have just read.
Another annoying thing: The author kept insisting that the mystery surrounding Kongslund was of such a scale that it would explode and destroy Kongslund and everyone residing there, plus a minister who was held in such high regard. It would utterly destroy him and his career, and I couldn't help thinking that it wouldn't. It would be on the front pages for a week, but then something else would take the headlines and everyone would forget about it. It's like the author is crying: "The secret is a super morally corrupt plot executed by depraved and cruel people and everyone will be shocked at the big reveal" but the secret can't live up to that label. In fact, the secret would have had more of an impact if the author hadn't kept insisting that I would be shocked and horrified at the big reveal. If he had kept his mouth shut, then maybe I would have.
Most of the story is told by Marie who lives at Kongslund and besides being a lying, annoying, lonely woman who loves destroying other people's lives, she is also malicious and weirdly enough able to describe details she couldn't have known. And that makes it problematic to have her as the storyteller, because we get information that she can't possibly possess. That annoyed me too.
The positives:
I wanted the mystery solved which is why I kept reading. The plot is not bad, it's just dragged on for too long. And despite it not being a page-turner, I never thought of quitting it. So, I guess it is a meh-book that couldn't live up to its potential, but I am glad to have read it. Many things annoyed me, but the overall storyline didn't. I still think it is a decent plot, and in the hands of a better author (sorry, Erik Valeur) it would have been a gripping page-turner with a fresh, new idea. And I still like the book for that. It dared to try something new, and while it didn't always succeed, it deserves praise for its daring and novel approach. And no, I hadn't guessed all the details of the Big Reveal, so the book kept surprising me to the end. And that works in its favour too.
So, let's start with the negatives:
None of the characters are likable or interesting, and it annoyed me that all the adoptions portrayed had unhappy outcomes. All the adoptive children are lonely, miserable and in some way responsible for other people's deaths and all of their adoptive parents seem to not care about the children at all - with only one exception. It's a very bleak outlook on life and adoption.
The book is waaaayy too long. We get long descriptions of every character's childhood and they are so effing boring and should have been either cut or cut down to a very few sentences. The story would have been twice as good by being half as long.
The author kept talking about Destiny and the God of Friendship and Fate and how said Fate keeps laughing at us when we make plans, because all plans are futile, we will follow the road dictated to us. We are told that repeatedly throughout the story and it gets annoying. The author also keeps throwing in sentences like "if I had only stayed, things would have been very different" or "if they had listened, they would have heard Fate digging their graves, but of course they didn't" and "in six months two of the three men would be dead" and it annoyed me that the author kept hinting at stuff to happen instead of making the pages I was on interesting. When you are slogging through a boring read you want stuff to happen now, not getting hints that six months from now something will have happened. Also, he used some weird metaphors from time to time.
It's a decent mystery but the author could learn a trick or two from Agatha Christie or other crime writers. The clues are often too heavy or obvious even though the author thinks he has been very subtle, so you can easily figure out big reveals hundreds of pages before they come. And then the big reveal is repeated a few times, just in case you forgot what you have just read.
Another annoying thing: The author kept insisting that the mystery surrounding Kongslund was of such a scale that it would explode and destroy Kongslund and everyone residing there, plus a minister who was held in such high regard. It would utterly destroy him and his career, and I couldn't help thinking that it wouldn't. It would be on the front pages for a week, but then something else would take the headlines and everyone would forget about it. It's like the author is crying: "The secret is a super morally corrupt plot executed by depraved and cruel people and everyone will be shocked at the big reveal" but the secret can't live up to that label. In fact, the secret would have had more of an impact if the author hadn't kept insisting that I would be shocked and horrified at the big reveal. If he had kept his mouth shut, then maybe I would have.
Most of the story is told by Marie who lives at Kongslund and besides being a lying, annoying, lonely woman who loves destroying other people's lives, she is also malicious and weirdly enough able to describe details she couldn't have known. And that makes it problematic to have her as the storyteller, because we get information that she can't possibly possess. That annoyed me too.
The positives:
I wanted the mystery solved which is why I kept reading. The plot is not bad, it's just dragged on for too long. And despite it not being a page-turner, I never thought of quitting it. So, I guess it is a meh-book that couldn't live up to its potential, but I am glad to have read it. Many things annoyed me, but the overall storyline didn't. I still think it is a decent plot, and in the hands of a better author (sorry, Erik Valeur) it would have been a gripping page-turner with a fresh, new idea. And I still like the book for that. It dared to try something new, and while it didn't always succeed, it deserves praise for its daring and novel approach. And no, I hadn't guessed all the details of the Big Reveal, so the book kept surprising me to the end. And that works in its favour too.
August 12, 2017
In 1961 komen er zeven kinderen ongeveer tegelijk terecht in het Kongslund-kindertehuis in Skodsborg, die voor adoptie worden afgestaan nadat ze in het Rigshospital in Kopenhagen ter wereld zijn gebracht. Binnen bepaalde tijd krijgen ze allemaal nieuwe ouders en een nieuwe toekomst. Inger Marie, met de roepnaam Marie, die als vondelingetje terechtkomt in Kongslund krijgt de directrice van het kindertehuis, Magna, zelf als pleegmoeder en blijft haar hele leven in Kongslund, een villa aan de Sont met zicht op zee, wonen. Magna beschouwt haar namelijk als te zwak om meegenomen te worden naar een ander thuis, om beschermd te worden tegen de buitenwereld, ook omdat het meisje misvormd ter wereld is gekomen. En één van de zeven kinderen draagt een geheim met zich mee. ..
Als in 2008 het kindertehuis haar zestigjarig jubileum viert, krijgen de geadopteerde kinderen net als journalist, Knud Tåsing, allemaal een vreemde brief in de bus met enkele mysterieuze attributen erbij: een naamfiche met de naam John Bergstrand en een klein babysokje. Er is aan het begin van hun leven als ze samen lagen in de ‘olifantjeskamer’ iets belangrijks gebeurd dat nu enkele belangrijke Deense politici heel zenuwachtig maakt en hen terugvoert naar hun jeugd en hun biologische ouders. Zo worden oude wonden opengereten en oude fragiele gezinsrelaties stuk gemaakt. Marie en haar nieuw gevonden vrienden komen tegenover oud hoofdcommissaris Carl Malle en de Minister van Nationale Zaken Ole te staan, die heel wat meer middelen ter beschikking hebben uiteraard.
De belangrijkste vertelster van dit boek is eigenlijk Marie die in haar jeugd steeds opnieuw moest afscheid nemen van andere kinderen waarbij ze zelf achter bleef. Haar geheime missie in haar kindertijd bestond erin de levens van de andere kinderen te leren kennen en te gaan bespioneren omdat ze zich zelf voornamelijk moest bezig houden. Ze kreeg dan ook nog thuisonderricht waardoor ze uit pedagogisch oogpunt waarschijnlijk te weinig op een gezonde manier met leeftijdsgenootjes in contact kwam. De hardheid van de thematiek ‘adoptie’ wordt dan ook niet uit de weg gegaan: het gevoel van gemis, eenzaamheid, adoptiekinderen die hun identiteit zoeken, nature vs nurture, zijn dan ook belangrijke thema’s in dit boek. Niet in het minst waarschijnlijk omdat de schrijver en journalist van dit verhaal, Valeur, zelf in dergelijk tehuis heeft doorgebracht.
Marie wordt verder ook door de ‘neutrale’ verteller van dit boek aangevuld daar waar ze het verhaal zelf niet gecontroleerd of in de hand heeft.
Wat Marie allemaal tegenkomt, is eigenlijk allemaal verschrikkelijk, en tegelijkertijd ook zeer gevoelig beschreven met de juiste nuances en zeggingskracht in prachtige zinnen.
“Voor een keer liet ik het Lot openlijk ontevreden over zijn hemelrand heen hangen, van waaruit het woedend op ons neerkeek – de levenden en de doden, de nieuwkomers, de verstotenen, de gebrekkig gerepareerden, de scheven, de zielenpieten en de bijna onbeweeglijken – zonder deemoedig op te springen en om toestemming te vragen om dekking te zoeken. Het was een zeldzaam moment in mijn leven. En het was natuurlijk ook een provocatie die – zelfs in dromen – het risico liep gestraft te worden.”
Ze wilt de geheimen ontrafelen die volgens haar aan haar neus voorbijkomen, en verdenkt het tehuis ervan een toevluchtsoord te zijn van ongewenste kinderen van welgestelde mannen die een hoge machtspositie hebben bereikt. Is het daarom dat de afkomst van de kinderen die bij haar op de ‘olifantjeskamer’ lagen niet bekend mocht zijn?
Terwijl we met de moeilijke levens van de verschillende kinderen kennis maken, die het voor het merendeel allemaal zwaar hadden in hun groei naar volwassenheid, leren we tegelijkertijd het ontstellende dramatische leven van Marie ook beter kennen door de subtiele, magistrale manier waarop de auteur haar neer zet. En de geheimen maken het tegelijkertijd een mysterieus en spannend verhaal waardoor het tevens thrillerelementen in zich heeft. Voor echte thriller-fans zal dit boek waarschijnlijk wat te traag en te filosofisch zijn, en voor literaire genieters wordt er dan misschien weer net wat te veel nadruk op de plot gelegd. De psychologische kant krijgt heel veel plaats in het verhaal uiteraard.
Het is toch echt wel een genre-verleggend boek dat van beide aspecten heel wat in zich heeft. Het verhaal is echter zo meeslepend dat het mij tot het einde in zijn greep hield in ieder geval.
“Dat was een gave die bepaald word door absolute duisternis, zei ze tegen mij: ‘ De verlatenheid was het eerste gevoel dat jullie deelden – en de informatie over die toestand werd moeiteloos tussen jullie doorgegeven van bed tot bed."
Als in 2008 het kindertehuis haar zestigjarig jubileum viert, krijgen de geadopteerde kinderen net als journalist, Knud Tåsing, allemaal een vreemde brief in de bus met enkele mysterieuze attributen erbij: een naamfiche met de naam John Bergstrand en een klein babysokje. Er is aan het begin van hun leven als ze samen lagen in de ‘olifantjeskamer’ iets belangrijks gebeurd dat nu enkele belangrijke Deense politici heel zenuwachtig maakt en hen terugvoert naar hun jeugd en hun biologische ouders. Zo worden oude wonden opengereten en oude fragiele gezinsrelaties stuk gemaakt. Marie en haar nieuw gevonden vrienden komen tegenover oud hoofdcommissaris Carl Malle en de Minister van Nationale Zaken Ole te staan, die heel wat meer middelen ter beschikking hebben uiteraard.
De belangrijkste vertelster van dit boek is eigenlijk Marie die in haar jeugd steeds opnieuw moest afscheid nemen van andere kinderen waarbij ze zelf achter bleef. Haar geheime missie in haar kindertijd bestond erin de levens van de andere kinderen te leren kennen en te gaan bespioneren omdat ze zich zelf voornamelijk moest bezig houden. Ze kreeg dan ook nog thuisonderricht waardoor ze uit pedagogisch oogpunt waarschijnlijk te weinig op een gezonde manier met leeftijdsgenootjes in contact kwam. De hardheid van de thematiek ‘adoptie’ wordt dan ook niet uit de weg gegaan: het gevoel van gemis, eenzaamheid, adoptiekinderen die hun identiteit zoeken, nature vs nurture, zijn dan ook belangrijke thema’s in dit boek. Niet in het minst waarschijnlijk omdat de schrijver en journalist van dit verhaal, Valeur, zelf in dergelijk tehuis heeft doorgebracht.
Marie wordt verder ook door de ‘neutrale’ verteller van dit boek aangevuld daar waar ze het verhaal zelf niet gecontroleerd of in de hand heeft.
Wat Marie allemaal tegenkomt, is eigenlijk allemaal verschrikkelijk, en tegelijkertijd ook zeer gevoelig beschreven met de juiste nuances en zeggingskracht in prachtige zinnen.
“Voor een keer liet ik het Lot openlijk ontevreden over zijn hemelrand heen hangen, van waaruit het woedend op ons neerkeek – de levenden en de doden, de nieuwkomers, de verstotenen, de gebrekkig gerepareerden, de scheven, de zielenpieten en de bijna onbeweeglijken – zonder deemoedig op te springen en om toestemming te vragen om dekking te zoeken. Het was een zeldzaam moment in mijn leven. En het was natuurlijk ook een provocatie die – zelfs in dromen – het risico liep gestraft te worden.”
Ze wilt de geheimen ontrafelen die volgens haar aan haar neus voorbijkomen, en verdenkt het tehuis ervan een toevluchtsoord te zijn van ongewenste kinderen van welgestelde mannen die een hoge machtspositie hebben bereikt. Is het daarom dat de afkomst van de kinderen die bij haar op de ‘olifantjeskamer’ lagen niet bekend mocht zijn?
Terwijl we met de moeilijke levens van de verschillende kinderen kennis maken, die het voor het merendeel allemaal zwaar hadden in hun groei naar volwassenheid, leren we tegelijkertijd het ontstellende dramatische leven van Marie ook beter kennen door de subtiele, magistrale manier waarop de auteur haar neer zet. En de geheimen maken het tegelijkertijd een mysterieus en spannend verhaal waardoor het tevens thrillerelementen in zich heeft. Voor echte thriller-fans zal dit boek waarschijnlijk wat te traag en te filosofisch zijn, en voor literaire genieters wordt er dan misschien weer net wat te veel nadruk op de plot gelegd. De psychologische kant krijgt heel veel plaats in het verhaal uiteraard.
Het is toch echt wel een genre-verleggend boek dat van beide aspecten heel wat in zich heeft. Het verhaal is echter zo meeslepend dat het mij tot het einde in zijn greep hield in ieder geval.
“Dat was een gave die bepaald word door absolute duisternis, zei ze tegen mij: ‘ De verlatenheid was het eerste gevoel dat jullie deelden – en de informatie over die toestand werd moeiteloos tussen jullie doorgegeven van bed tot bed."
May 31, 2020
En helt vild roman. Så fedt et plot, så mange twists, og med fantastiske krimi elementer, men samtidig så meget mere. Det er en bog på mange sider, men man bliver også bare nødt til at få slutningen med og hele sandheden.
April 10, 2014
A Danish orphanage built by the sea holds secrets which the author painstakingly reveals bit by bit, as if peeling the layers of an onion. The book begins when a woman is found dead on the beach, displayed with random objects and through the course of the book, her life and the life of seven people who began their lives at the orphanage is explored. The story line shifts through each of their lives drawing the reader into a hidden darkness of the children's ill-fated start to life. The orphanage faces rumors of scandal, of politicians and celebrities unwanted offspring, making this story a good mystery as well as a social commentary of a generation of Danes in a world that is constantly changing.
This book is well written, and just as in life, the truth is never quite what you think. A great mystery that deals with modern themes, I would recommend this book on this basis. I found it a bit long, but the twists and turns make it a worthy read.
This book is well written, and just as in life, the truth is never quite what you think. A great mystery that deals with modern themes, I would recommend this book on this basis. I found it a bit long, but the twists and turns make it a worthy read.
August 1, 2017
At 730-something pages, way way way too long.
What could have been an intriguing read, turned into a thing I just had to finish.
I took an interest to the book as I once live more or less door to door to the "scene of the crime" in Skodsborg. Looking back, it was always never a place that caused any attention to the outside world, and I guess it still doesn´t.
Taking 7 babies and creating a life story for each of them with, at least, some consistency is an effort I will credit the author.
Whereas parts of the plot could be likely, others are either wishful thinking or a really dystopian view on the Danish political scene.
However, if it is supposed to be critical to society, politics, media etc. it does a pretty bad job.
3 stars for keeping me entertained for some hours -
What could have been an intriguing read, turned into a thing I just had to finish.
I took an interest to the book as I once live more or less door to door to the "scene of the crime" in Skodsborg. Looking back, it was always never a place that caused any attention to the outside world, and I guess it still doesn´t.
Taking 7 babies and creating a life story for each of them with, at least, some consistency is an effort I will credit the author.
Whereas parts of the plot could be likely, others are either wishful thinking or a really dystopian view on the Danish political scene.
However, if it is supposed to be critical to society, politics, media etc. it does a pretty bad job.
3 stars for keeping me entertained for some hours -
April 9, 2014
Interesting, but felt a little too drawn out
First off, I read this as a free Kindle book and would probably be disappointed if I had paid for it. I was on my way to vacation in Copenhagen when I downloaded the book, it seemed appropriate.
Early on there is mystery and intrigue, but by the end of the story the same vague, cryptic descriptions feel over used. Once the big secret is revealed there is way too much review of the plot and history in the remaining chapters. I felt like I had to finish the book, but I wasn't staying up super late, tearing through the pages like I was at the beginning.
First off, I read this as a free Kindle book and would probably be disappointed if I had paid for it. I was on my way to vacation in Copenhagen when I downloaded the book, it seemed appropriate.
Early on there is mystery and intrigue, but by the end of the story the same vague, cryptic descriptions feel over used. Once the big secret is revealed there is way too much review of the plot and history in the remaining chapters. I felt like I had to finish the book, but I wasn't staying up super late, tearing through the pages like I was at the beginning.
January 13, 2016
This book is long. I'm not one who likes to read something over and over unless there are new details that are exciting. I'm afraid this book could have been a lot shorter. 632 pages. It was very slow in the action category.
September 11, 2022
Excelente thriller.
Se nota que hubo inspiración de Agatha Christie
El recurso de misterio está muy bien usado y se mantuvo en gran parte del libro.
El final no me lo esperaba.
Se nota que hubo inspiración de Agatha Christie
El recurso de misterio está muy bien usado y se mantuvo en gran parte del libro.
El final no me lo esperaba.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 3, 2019
Een intrigerend verhaal. Ook word je geregeld op het verkeerde spoor gezet. Net als je denkt dat je weet hoe het verhaal in elkaar steekt, blijkt het toch weer anders te zijn dan je denkt. Al had ik op het laatst wel een vermoeden, dat bleek te kloppen. Ik vond het een interessant verhaal. Al vond ik het op het laatst wel lang duren. Maar dat komt meer doordat het een dik boek is en ik meestal niet zoveel tijd had om te lezen. Daardoor heb ik lang over het boek gedaan vergeleken met normaal. Ik had beter kunnen wachten op een moment dat ik meer tijd had om te lezen. Ik was echter te nieuwsgierig naar het verhaal, nadat ik de achterflap had gelezen. Gelukkig lukte het me wel om elke dag in ieder geval een hoofdstuk te lezen, waardoor ik wel in het verhaal bleef. Al had ik soms moeite om personages uit elkaar te houden, doordat er veel personages in het verhaal voorkomen en de namen van sommigen op elkaar lijken. Ondanks de nadelen vind ik het toch een goed boek. Het verhaal zit goed in elkaar en blijft boeien.
September 14, 2020
Er zit zeker potentie in het verhaal, en wellicht leest het fijner in de originele taal. Zelf vond ik de vertaling niet zo geslaagd, ik ergerde me aan vele zinsconstructies en vreemde formuleringen, en dat deed uiteraard afbreuk aan de beleving van het boek.
February 26, 2023
Trebuie sa va inarmati cu multa rabdare, fiind o carte groasa si care merge cam impiedicat. Este un amestec de thriller psihologic si mister intortocheat, dar interesant.
April 30, 2014
Synopsis: a story of politics and orphans. There are 7 orphans and one is the child of mystery that could make things very difficult for some politicians and government leaders. The story opens with a dead woman on the shore. There is a lot of odd things about this death but because it happens on 9/11/2001, it is dropped and never solved. How or why this has any relationship to the orphans is anyone’s guess. It takes 640 pages of twists and turns to get through this mystery. Much of the time, it just seems like a lot of bother about something that really doesn’t make that big of a difference. In the end, it is a real mystery and a crime.
What I liked: I liked the mystery set in the time period of 1961 and 2008. I liked and didn’t not like the story of the orphans. It felt too awful as if being a orphan is never a happy outcome but then I had to also accept the story because the author actually spent time in an orphanage so had more personal experience that I could bring to the situation. The author also brought his experience of being a journalist, the idealism and the conflict with “business” of journalism.
Problems I had with the story: there was a lot of characters and nicknames and it was difficult to keep it all straight. There was a lot of storylines but they really did all come together. I also felt like it just took too long to read the book. There really are two narrators in this story and I lost track of that until I read the end and then went back and read the beginning. If I hadn’t gone back, I think it would have felt a bit unfinished. I could say that the story maybe was less enjoyable to me because I didn’t read it in the original language but when I looked at reviews by people who did read it in the original language, the ratings were equally scattered on the lower side. I actually rated it higher than some because I do think the story was well thought out and unique.
What I liked: I liked the mystery set in the time period of 1961 and 2008. I liked and didn’t not like the story of the orphans. It felt too awful as if being a orphan is never a happy outcome but then I had to also accept the story because the author actually spent time in an orphanage so had more personal experience that I could bring to the situation. The author also brought his experience of being a journalist, the idealism and the conflict with “business” of journalism.
Problems I had with the story: there was a lot of characters and nicknames and it was difficult to keep it all straight. There was a lot of storylines but they really did all come together. I also felt like it just took too long to read the book. There really are two narrators in this story and I lost track of that until I read the end and then went back and read the beginning. If I hadn’t gone back, I think it would have felt a bit unfinished. I could say that the story maybe was less enjoyable to me because I didn’t read it in the original language but when I looked at reviews by people who did read it in the original language, the ratings were equally scattered on the lower side. I actually rated it higher than some because I do think the story was well thought out and unique.
January 14, 2016
No, it didn't really take me 90 years to read this book....it just felt like it did. Holy croak, what a struggle. It took me so long to read it that I don't even remember why I wanted to read it in the first place. It wasn't terrible: the story is interesting; the characters are complex; the writing is okay (although mind numbingly repetitive at times); it's just TOO. DARN. LONG. Maybe it takes ten English words to express one Danish word, so it's a translation problem; who knows. I honestly think the only reason I didn't give up and move this to my "just-couldn't-finish-it" list was pure stubbornness; it became a challenge, and I was determined to finish it.
Please understand, I don't have a problem with the simple fact that a book is long, and I knew going into it that this one is enormous. After all, I am one of maybe ten people on the planet who has actually read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich cover to cover. My problem is when a book is needlessly long; this one certainly is.
Maybe it has to be this long because it takes forever to figure out who's who. Some of the characters have similar names (again, maybe that's a translation issue?) which I found needlessly irritating. In particular, two central characters (both Danish government officials) have such similar names that it took me probably half the book (i.e., about 50,000 pages) to automatically have it straight in my mind which one was which. This annoyance is completely avoidable: just name them something else; it's fiction, for heaven's sake!
On the positive side, I was intrigued by the story. One fun aspect for me was that every time I thought I had the mystery figured out, I didn't; maybe that's what kept me plodding away. I also alternated between liking and despising the main character, and I like being manipulated like that (yes, I'm easy that way...)
I'd suggest not starting this book if your remaining life expectancy is fewer than ten years.
Oh, did I mention that it's too long?
Please understand, I don't have a problem with the simple fact that a book is long, and I knew going into it that this one is enormous. After all, I am one of maybe ten people on the planet who has actually read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich cover to cover. My problem is when a book is needlessly long; this one certainly is.
Maybe it has to be this long because it takes forever to figure out who's who. Some of the characters have similar names (again, maybe that's a translation issue?) which I found needlessly irritating. In particular, two central characters (both Danish government officials) have such similar names that it took me probably half the book (i.e., about 50,000 pages) to automatically have it straight in my mind which one was which. This annoyance is completely avoidable: just name them something else; it's fiction, for heaven's sake!
On the positive side, I was intrigued by the story. One fun aspect for me was that every time I thought I had the mystery figured out, I didn't; maybe that's what kept me plodding away. I also alternated between liking and despising the main character, and I like being manipulated like that (yes, I'm easy that way...)
I'd suggest not starting this book if your remaining life expectancy is fewer than ten years.
Oh, did I mention that it's too long?
April 24, 2014
This is a fascinating and complicated book that starts in the more recent past, moves to the distant past, then to the present, then back again. This is deftly handled and makes sense in the context of the story. The story centers around 7 children who were in an orphanage at the same time and later it is proven that one of them is the illegitimate child of a man who had connections in the past but is now powerful. There is the mystery of which child the offspring of this powerful man, but there are also murders, past and present, and unsettling issues that occurred in the children's lives.
The author, Erik Valeur, was adopted himself and states that he has a fascination with this situation. In this book, each of the adoptive parents have deep seated issues and scars which have led the to adopt and each of these has led to problems. The children themselves are all damaged, not just by their adoptive parents but by the very fact that they were adoptive. As a reader, I had a strong sense of what Mr. Valeur thought of that process.
I am probably prejudiced myself as I am the parent of an adopted child. We didn't go into the process with the negativity demonstrated by the parents portrayed in this book and while my daughter will always know she is adopted and appears to be handling it much better than the children/adults depicted in the novel. Both the author and I come to this with our own experiences and resulting prejudices.
As for the plot itself, for me it went on longer than necessary and I found myself bored in places, but wanting to know which child it was kept me moving. I had guessed the truth fairly early in the book but enough red herrings were laid that it had me doubt and guess again many times. This was so well done. I found the end particularly unsatisfying and slightly confusing but perhaps I was just worn out from the long, detour-filled journey.
The author, Erik Valeur, was adopted himself and states that he has a fascination with this situation. In this book, each of the adoptive parents have deep seated issues and scars which have led the to adopt and each of these has led to problems. The children themselves are all damaged, not just by their adoptive parents but by the very fact that they were adoptive. As a reader, I had a strong sense of what Mr. Valeur thought of that process.
I am probably prejudiced myself as I am the parent of an adopted child. We didn't go into the process with the negativity demonstrated by the parents portrayed in this book and while my daughter will always know she is adopted and appears to be handling it much better than the children/adults depicted in the novel. Both the author and I come to this with our own experiences and resulting prejudices.
As for the plot itself, for me it went on longer than necessary and I found myself bored in places, but wanting to know which child it was kept me moving. I had guessed the truth fairly early in the book but enough red herrings were laid that it had me doubt and guess again many times. This was so well done. I found the end particularly unsatisfying and slightly confusing but perhaps I was just worn out from the long, detour-filled journey.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2014
This is a very long, slow mystery, but that's why I liked it! Bit-by-bit and story by story (seven children remember!) the reader is made aware of what seems to be going on and what actually is/was going on. It investigates the psychology of adopted children and touches on nature vs nurture. As the events of 1961, 2001 and 2008 all become clearer and clearer, we finally have some resolution. Unfortunately, to me, the resolution was not as satisfying as I would have liked. The author is Danish and the setting is Denmark. What sets Scandinavian mysteries apart is the slow pace and dark stories. Yes, there was a lot of description, but the language use was amazing (thanks to good translation as well!). This is not your usual "who done it" but a true psychological exploration. Thank you Amazon Prime for a good, free book!
March 14, 2014
This is not your feel-good read. I never review books, but having made my way through the many pages of The Seventh Son, I felt compelled. I am an adoptive parent and have found the experience to be the best of my life. My two daughters are loving mothers themselves now and we have a mutual love for each other that's very fulfilling. That's where I'm coming from as I review. The author of this book is adopted and perhaps this colors his fiction. The main children of The Seventh Son are all psychologically impaired in one way or another and their adoptive parents are all maladjusted and unprepared to be parents. There is nothing to rejoice about here, but I was interested and wanted to see the resolution of the mystery.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 364 reviews