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On the Other Side Is March
A poignant and darkly witty portrait of aging, memory, and multigenerational caretaking from the first female Faroese writer to ever appear in English.
I’m a woman in my early sixties. Somewhere between late and never. No longer the career woman, mother, housewife, and lover doing it all… Now I’m wife, mother, grandmother and my mother’s mother. But I still have to satisfy all the demands placed on me.
So begins Sólrún Michelsen’s tender and darkly witty exploration of what she considers to be the strange, remaining leg of life’s journey. Her kids are grown and out of the house and she’s faced with a time that, for years, she always seemed to be looking toward—a time when she wasn’t needed by somebody or something. But now, with her mother’s declining health, she finds herself revisiting childhood scenes, family hymns, and folk songs—revealing a lifetime of love, duty, awe, and regret. She tends to her mother amid the stark rhythms of Faroese life, waiting for a new nursing home that never arrives, and confronts the reality of being part of the “army of women” who inherit care. In her grief and private goodbye to her mother, however, is also a gorgeous meditation about life, as translator Marita Thomsen says in her preface, “in its ragged mundane glory.”
A lyrical portrait of caretaking and the invisible labor of motherhood, On the Other Side Is March is a tribute to caretakers across generational lines, as well as the rich oral traditions of singing and storytelling that kept the Faroese language alive centuries before its standard written form.
This is the first work of Michelsen’s—a best-selling author of novels, short stories, poetry, and children’s literature—to be published in English.
I’m a woman in my early sixties. Somewhere between late and never. No longer the career woman, mother, housewife, and lover doing it all… Now I’m wife, mother, grandmother and my mother’s mother. But I still have to satisfy all the demands placed on me.
So begins Sólrún Michelsen’s tender and darkly witty exploration of what she considers to be the strange, remaining leg of life’s journey. Her kids are grown and out of the house and she’s faced with a time that, for years, she always seemed to be looking toward—a time when she wasn’t needed by somebody or something. But now, with her mother’s declining health, she finds herself revisiting childhood scenes, family hymns, and folk songs—revealing a lifetime of love, duty, awe, and regret. She tends to her mother amid the stark rhythms of Faroese life, waiting for a new nursing home that never arrives, and confronts the reality of being part of the “army of women” who inherit care. In her grief and private goodbye to her mother, however, is also a gorgeous meditation about life, as translator Marita Thomsen says in her preface, “in its ragged mundane glory.”
A lyrical portrait of caretaking and the invisible labor of motherhood, On the Other Side Is March is a tribute to caretakers across generational lines, as well as the rich oral traditions of singing and storytelling that kept the Faroese language alive centuries before its standard written form.
This is the first work of Michelsen’s—a best-selling author of novels, short stories, poetry, and children’s literature—to be published in English.
- GenresFictionLiterary Fiction
125 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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June 13, 2026One of those books that shakes you and wakes you up. About life and its confusing unfairness book-ended by non-existence. Of mothers of daughters who go on to become mothers themselves, and eventually those same daughters who have to mother their own mothers in old age. About acknowledging your inner child. About the beauty in small, simple things: the wonder of a blade of grass, the leaping of a fish out of a brook, the night sky full of stars, memories. And the loss of memories, the loss when you are no longer remembered. It's poignant, poetic. A book to be gobbled up in one sitting, and also to be savored.
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February 3, 2026ok whoops i lied i will tackle this later actually <3
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The first female Faroese writer to ever appear in English - gonna try and tackle this as my last read of January xx
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The first female Faroese writer to ever appear in English - gonna try and tackle this as my last read of January xx
December 7, 2025
A very quiet and contemplative novel about the seasons of life, of the bookends of motherhood and how to become a mother to your mother. The first novel by a Faroese woman translated into English!
March 3, 2026
4.5 ⭐️
V knjigi pisateljice s Farskih otokov (angleški naslov je On the other side is March) se pripovedovalka predstavi kot ženska v začetku 60-ih let, nič več ženska s kariero, mama, ljubimka, nekdo, ko zmore vse z levo roko. Zdaj je le še žena, mama, babica in mama svoji mami, ampak še vedno se pričakuje, da bo postorila vse.
Poetičen roman o različnih fazah življenja in vlogah, ki jih v njih imamo ženske. O ciklu, ki se zaključuje, kjer se je začel - v nebogljenem otroštvu. O spominih in o mami, ki počasi izgublja svoje spomine.
Priporočam!
V knjigi pisateljice s Farskih otokov (angleški naslov je On the other side is March) se pripovedovalka predstavi kot ženska v začetku 60-ih let, nič več ženska s kariero, mama, ljubimka, nekdo, ko zmore vse z levo roko. Zdaj je le še žena, mama, babica in mama svoji mami, ampak še vedno se pričakuje, da bo postorila vse.
Poetičen roman o različnih fazah življenja in vlogah, ki jih v njih imamo ženske. O ciklu, ki se zaključuje, kjer se je začel - v nebogljenem otroštvu. O spominih in o mami, ki počasi izgublja svoje spomine.
Priporočam!
June 22, 2026
“On the Other Side Is March” is a quiet, reflective novel that contemplates aging, memory, caregiving, and the approach of death. The narrator, a woman in her mid-sixties, is caring for her elderly mother, who is living with dementia. As she navigates the daily realities of that role, her thoughts drift frequently into memories of her own childhood, particularly recollections of her mother and the influence she had on her life. The narrator's own adult children remain largely at the periphery, reinforcing the sense that this is a story focused primarily on the bond between daughter and mother.
Michelsen writes with warmth, compassion, and gentle humor. Her portrayal of the narrator's mother avoids sentimentality while remaining deeply affectionate. Some of the novel's most effective moments arise from the small exchanges between the two women, which capture both the frustrations and unexpected tenderness that often accompany dementia and end-of-life caregiving.
The novel's greatest strength is its lyrical prose. Michelsen vividly evokes both family life and the landscape of the Faroe Islands, creating an atmosphere that is often as important as the events themselves. The narrative unfolds less as a conventional story than as a sequence of memories, observations, and conversations. It meanders intentionally, following the rhythms of consciousness rather than the demands of plot. At times, the book feels closer to a collection of prose poems than to a traditional novel.
Readers seeking a strong narrative arc may find this approach challenging and a little disappointing. I came to the book expecting a more conventional work of fiction, and its wandering structure occasionally made it a struggle to remain fully engaged. Yet this short novel rewards patience. Scattered throughout are thoughtful insights about family, memory, mortality, and the peculiar emotional terrain of caring for a parent whose mind is slowly slipping away.
While the novel was not entirely successful for me as a novel, many of Michelsen's observations struck me as wise, humane, and ultimately life-affirming. It is a contemplative work that values moments of recognition over dramatic events, and readers willing to surrender to its poetic sensibility may find much to appreciate.
Michelsen writes with warmth, compassion, and gentle humor. Her portrayal of the narrator's mother avoids sentimentality while remaining deeply affectionate. Some of the novel's most effective moments arise from the small exchanges between the two women, which capture both the frustrations and unexpected tenderness that often accompany dementia and end-of-life caregiving.
The novel's greatest strength is its lyrical prose. Michelsen vividly evokes both family life and the landscape of the Faroe Islands, creating an atmosphere that is often as important as the events themselves. The narrative unfolds less as a conventional story than as a sequence of memories, observations, and conversations. It meanders intentionally, following the rhythms of consciousness rather than the demands of plot. At times, the book feels closer to a collection of prose poems than to a traditional novel.
Readers seeking a strong narrative arc may find this approach challenging and a little disappointing. I came to the book expecting a more conventional work of fiction, and its wandering structure occasionally made it a struggle to remain fully engaged. Yet this short novel rewards patience. Scattered throughout are thoughtful insights about family, memory, mortality, and the peculiar emotional terrain of caring for a parent whose mind is slowly slipping away.
While the novel was not entirely successful for me as a novel, many of Michelsen's observations struck me as wise, humane, and ultimately life-affirming. It is a contemplative work that values moments of recognition over dramatic events, and readers willing to surrender to its poetic sensibility may find much to appreciate.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
On The Other Side Is March by Sólrún Michelson and translated by Marita Thomson is a beautiful story about womanhood, motherhood, dementia, and the potential responsibilities women face as our parents get older.
The story is explained through the eyes of a daughter that ultimately inherits the responsibility of taking care of her mother while patiently waiting for a home to take over her care. The author also does a really good job at giving us glances of their culture and I found myself captivated to learn more. While fictitious, there is a lot of truth about women carrying the world on their shoulders. What I got from this book was a reminder on how I can appreciate the women in my life as a man. I did have one minor gripe; I felt as if the book wasn’t sure if it wanted to be poetry or a memoir. The book description did mention that it had lyrical and poetic elements, but I didn’t realize to what degree. At times the book seemed a bit cluttered? That being said, it didn’t discourage from finishing the book and ultimately praising it. It’s a love letter to life coupled with its ups and downs. I do recommend this book if you’re looking for a slower paced read.
Thank you so much to Edelweiss and Transit Books for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
The story is explained through the eyes of a daughter that ultimately inherits the responsibility of taking care of her mother while patiently waiting for a home to take over her care. The author also does a really good job at giving us glances of their culture and I found myself captivated to learn more. While fictitious, there is a lot of truth about women carrying the world on their shoulders. What I got from this book was a reminder on how I can appreciate the women in my life as a man. I did have one minor gripe; I felt as if the book wasn’t sure if it wanted to be poetry or a memoir. The book description did mention that it had lyrical and poetic elements, but I didn’t realize to what degree. At times the book seemed a bit cluttered? That being said, it didn’t discourage from finishing the book and ultimately praising it. It’s a love letter to life coupled with its ups and downs. I do recommend this book if you’re looking for a slower paced read.
Thank you so much to Edelweiss and Transit Books for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
June 19, 2026
This short novel may be remarkable because it's the first novel written in Faroese translated into English, but I find it just plain old compelling as an account of what it means to lose a parent to the prolonged death of dementia. That its characters get to use Faroese officially (not Danish) or still recall getting to put away the Danish flag (curtains were made of it by the narrator's family) certainly matter, as does the islands' geography (small, in the middle of the North Atlantic, with connections both to Britain and Norway). But its themes feel familiar, location, language or the culture notwithstanding. At least if you're dealing or have dealt with the combination of your own and your parents' aging.
I found the almost total absence of men, with the exception of the narrator's late papi, both interesting and hardly noticeable. That is, it is not a political treatise on the invisible work women do (although it's good for us to notice how much that still happens). It's really just an account of some relationships, particularly the narrator's relationship to her mother, and I found them compelling in their complexity.
I found the almost total absence of men, with the exception of the narrator's late papi, both interesting and hardly noticeable. That is, it is not a political treatise on the invisible work women do (although it's good for us to notice how much that still happens). It's really just an account of some relationships, particularly the narrator's relationship to her mother, and I found them compelling in their complexity.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
3.5.
*She sits there proud, stubborn. Her cheeks are flushed. She won’t sell out her convictions. Never has. I find her mesmerizing. You don’t inherit everything.*
Sweet staccato grieving. A teaching book, if only out of habit, long expectation. *The stream gushes on. And why not? Have you ever seen an ugly river? Even a ditch can captivate.* Pour so deeply into me, my spirit, my fountain. I cannot miss you more than now. Clenched and let go — good to be held, even just that long. It is hard to lose a parent, a fountain, even as it runs backward, climbs the tall cliff back to its source. The defrauding cruelty of dementia, the hand always full always outstretched now needs your hand, now needs it full. And all that can be done — *you don’t inherit everything.*
*She sits there proud, stubborn. Her cheeks are flushed. She won’t sell out her convictions. Never has. I find her mesmerizing. You don’t inherit everything.*
Sweet staccato grieving. A teaching book, if only out of habit, long expectation. *The stream gushes on. And why not? Have you ever seen an ugly river? Even a ditch can captivate.* Pour so deeply into me, my spirit, my fountain. I cannot miss you more than now. Clenched and let go — good to be held, even just that long. It is hard to lose a parent, a fountain, even as it runs backward, climbs the tall cliff back to its source. The defrauding cruelty of dementia, the hand always full always outstretched now needs your hand, now needs it full. And all that can be done — *you don’t inherit everything.*
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
From the first female Faroese writer to ever appear in English comes this poignant and utterly captivating novel about a woman in her 60's, caretaking for her mother while also doing the emotional labor of caring for her adult children and young grandchildren. For Michelsen's character, the present is a time of in-between; she is perpetually caught in memories of the past and nudged into a future state of bereavement by the inevitable knowledge that every day her mother is one day closer to death. Throughout, Michelsen ties sentences together with humor and a brief but profound simplicity, a simplicity that belies an emotional depth and keen understanding of the human spirit. What a beautiful book!
August 19, 2023
Auch in einer sehr gelungenen englischen Übersetzung verfügbar.
Als völliger Blindkauf eine Überraschung der angenehmsten Art. Zärtlich, mit wunderbarer Sprache und vielen Gedanken, die im Kleinen wurzeln aber Großes berühren, erzählt die Autorin von der letzten Zeit mit ihrer dementen Mutter, von Mutterschaft und dem Leben als Frau im Allgemeinen. Melancholisch, berührend, anregend.
Als völliger Blindkauf eine Überraschung der angenehmsten Art. Zärtlich, mit wunderbarer Sprache und vielen Gedanken, die im Kleinen wurzeln aber Großes berühren, erzählt die Autorin von der letzten Zeit mit ihrer dementen Mutter, von Mutterschaft und dem Leben als Frau im Allgemeinen. Melancholisch, berührend, anregend.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book was written with love for her mother and father but mostly her mother who had dementia and the use of her feelings was tremendously witty and had snippets throughout the story. It was easy to read but it had many and I mean many thoughts that stray and find there way to mean much of what was brought to your attention. Many thoughts strayed on purpose.
June 12, 2026
Poetical written in snippets that resemble are divided attention. A 60 something woman reflects on her life as a woman, a mother, a grandmother and now as a carer for her mother who is slipping away both mentally and physically in fits and starts. Poignant but also funny. Reflects beautifully on what constitutes a life through memory and in the moment interactions with young and old.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
this left me with an ache i am grateful for.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
In my Nordic novella era - breezed through this on the plane, a treasure!
December 31, 2023
CB15 Bingo: Europe -- this is not just written by an European author, it's (one of the?) first Faroese Island authors to be translated into English. As I learnt at a delightful reading, the Faroe Islands have a thriving literary scene as yet untapped by the broader non-Faroese Island speaking world.
Ah, this is the first book by a Faroese female author to be published in English. Moving on!
It became a bit of a double header of books about dying or otherwise incapacitated mothers, and I definitely called my (healthy and thriving) mother the day after to bank the memories. I found the story around the novel (e.g., the translation, the work by this tiny press to bring authors not usually translated into English to an English audience) more enthralling than the book itself, which had a tendency to drag a bit at times and be a bit too dreary for my tastes. And I say this as someone who usually is completely bawled over by books about mother/daughter relationships.
Ah, this is the first book by a Faroese female author to be published in English. Moving on!
It became a bit of a double header of books about dying or otherwise incapacitated mothers, and I definitely called my (healthy and thriving) mother the day after to bank the memories. I found the story around the novel (e.g., the translation, the work by this tiny press to bring authors not usually translated into English to an English audience) more enthralling than the book itself, which had a tendency to drag a bit at times and be a bit too dreary for my tastes. And I say this as someone who usually is completely bawled over by books about mother/daughter relationships.
November 21, 2024
En fin lille bog. Hjertevarm og poetisk. Kan anbefales til alle med gamle forældre eller svigerforældre, som bliver svagere og er på vej til at forsvinde ind i sindets glemsel.
Fine tilbageblik på barndomsoplevelser. Kloge overvejelser om at blive gammel, om ombytning af mor-barn-forholdet, da datteren bliver den voksne, der må tage sig af og tage ansvaret for sin gamle mor - med alt hvad det medfører af opløsning af velkendte roller og smerte, når moren ser med undrende øjne på den fremmede kvinde (datteren), som tilsyneladende vil hende noget.
Også opløftende og håbsgivende.
Tak, Nyborg bibliotek, fordi I lagde bogen frem mellem andre bøger af nordiske forfattere, så jeg fik øje på den.
Fine tilbageblik på barndomsoplevelser. Kloge overvejelser om at blive gammel, om ombytning af mor-barn-forholdet, da datteren bliver den voksne, der må tage sig af og tage ansvaret for sin gamle mor - med alt hvad det medfører af opløsning af velkendte roller og smerte, når moren ser med undrende øjne på den fremmede kvinde (datteren), som tilsyneladende vil hende noget.
Også opløftende og håbsgivende.
Tak, Nyborg bibliotek, fordi I lagde bogen frem mellem andre bøger af nordiske forfattere, så jeg fik øje på den.
February 7, 2018
Mellom en historie om moren som sakte blir borte i demens, hopper fortelleren fra tanke til tanke. Hva gjør barnebarna, hva sier de, blir blandet med minner fra barndommen som forma henne til den hun er i dag. Kvinners rolle i samfunnet blir dratt fram med funderinger om hva som vil skje når hun er så gammel som moren. Boken er drømmende, språket nærmest poetisk. Man kunne forventet seg en mørk bok, med så tungt tema, men den er optimistisk. Faktisk kan hele boken ses som en kjærlighetserklæring til både moren og livet.
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