Hermit Summer: A Novel

by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, Caroline Waight (Translator)

HERMIT SUMMER tells the story of a young woman, a biologist, who travels to the forests of southern Norway. Her to confirm sightings of the rare hermit beetle, a species thought to be extinct in Norway. Her to find her way back to life as she attempts to deal with the grief of losing a child. There she meets a surly older woman with secrets in her past, together with a handsome local. She forges a bond with the woman, especially when she learns that the nearby thousand-year-old oak forest is under threat. But there’s another mystery at the heart of the book – the reason why the older woman will do everything she can to preserve the land beneath her feet.

A stunningly beautiful novel that transports the reader to the majesty of the Norwegian forests. It asks questions about the stories we hide and the memory of landscape, the clash between preserving an environment and local economic factors, the clarity that space and silence can bring. At its heart is the transformative friendship between two women, both of whom have sought the solitude for reasons of their own. Thoughtful, intelligent and timely, Hermit Summer feels like a balm to the soul.

272 pages, Paperback

Expected publication June 29, 2027

About the author

Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson is a professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in Ås, Norway, as well as a scientific advisor for The Norwegian Institute for Nature Research NINA.