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Eide Family #3
Northernmost
From the acclaimed author of Wintering: a thrilling ode to the spirit of adventure and the vagaries of loss and love
In 1897 Norway, Odd Einar Eide returns home from a harrowing disaster in the northernmost arctic only to witness his own funeral in full swing. His wife Inger, stunned to see him alive, is slow to return his devoted affection: she'd spent countless sleepless nights convinced she had now lost both her husband and their daughter, Thea, who'd emigrated to America two years before and has yet to answer their many anxious letters. Further complicating their reconciliation, a newspaperman gets wind of Eide's miraculous survival and invites them both to the city of Tromsø so he can write what he is sure will be a bestselling story.
In 2017 Minnesota, Greta Nansen, desperately unhappy, decides to leave her children in her father's care and follow her husband to Oslo, where he's on assignment, in order to end their marriage. But for reasons mystifying even to her, she travels instead to the upper fringe of Norway--to the town where her great-great grandmother Thea was born.
A dual narrative told by blood relatives separated by five generations, Northernmost confronts the darkest recesses of the human heart and celebrates our astonishing ability to endure the most excruciating trials.
In 1897 Norway, Odd Einar Eide returns home from a harrowing disaster in the northernmost arctic only to witness his own funeral in full swing. His wife Inger, stunned to see him alive, is slow to return his devoted affection: she'd spent countless sleepless nights convinced she had now lost both her husband and their daughter, Thea, who'd emigrated to America two years before and has yet to answer their many anxious letters. Further complicating their reconciliation, a newspaperman gets wind of Eide's miraculous survival and invites them both to the city of Tromsø so he can write what he is sure will be a bestselling story.
In 2017 Minnesota, Greta Nansen, desperately unhappy, decides to leave her children in her father's care and follow her husband to Oslo, where he's on assignment, in order to end their marriage. But for reasons mystifying even to her, she travels instead to the upper fringe of Norway--to the town where her great-great grandmother Thea was born.
A dual narrative told by blood relatives separated by five generations, Northernmost confronts the darkest recesses of the human heart and celebrates our astonishing ability to endure the most excruciating trials.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published April 14, 2020
84 people are currently reading
2286 people want to read
About the author
Peter Geye
12 books287 followersPeter Geye is the author of the award-winning novels Safe from the Sea, The Lighthouse Road, Wintering, winner of the Minnesota Book Award, Northernmost, and The Ski Jumpers, forthcoming in September 2022.
Geye received his MFA from the University of New Orleans and his PhD from Western Michigan University, where he was editor of Third Coast. He currently teaches the year-long Novel Writing Project at the Loft Literary Center. Born and raised in Minneapolis, he continues to live there with his family.
Geye received his MFA from the University of New Orleans and his PhD from Western Michigan University, where he was editor of Third Coast. He currently teaches the year-long Novel Writing Project at the Loft Literary Center. Born and raised in Minneapolis, he continues to live there with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews
June 5, 2020
I loved the writing from the very beginning and I thought I’d move through this fairly quickly because it’s the quiet, introspective, beautiful writing that I enjoy so much and usually can’t put down. However, even for someone like me who loves quiet stories, it took me a while to get into the slow rhythm. It’s laden with emotional burdens of loss and loneliness, longing and this just felt so heavy at times. Maybe it’s the heaviness of our current times that impacted my reading.
It’s 2017, in Minnesota and Greta is unhappy and lonely, resentful of her husband’s infidelity, but it feels like it’s more than that. Maybe she never loved him. Searching for something - but what ? She travels to Norway where her husband is on business in Oslo, to end their marriage, but she doesn’t go to him . Instead she goes further north to the place where her ancestors were born looking for their story perhaps, and in the process discovers herself.
It’s in that place further north in Hammerfest, Norway that the second narrative unfolds in 1897 and the two narratives alternate. Odd Einer, her great, great, great grandfather coming back from a treacherous trek as he sees a funeral happening, his funeral. In these past sections of the narrative, it’s a telling of his story and the legend he becomes when his story is written by a newsman. I was most moved in these sections by the heartbreak and sorrow that he and his wife suffer when they don’t hear from their daughter, Thea now in America and not heard from for a year. Thea, the connection between the narratives, Greta’s great great grandmother. I would have given this five stars if it didn’t take so long to learn about Thea and if I could have connected more easily to Greta. This will not be for everyone. If you’re looking for an action filled plot, this won’t give it to you, but if this quiet, beautiful prose is something that engages you, you will probably enjoy it. You can feel the cold and the descriptions of the surroundings are pretty amazing. This is the third book of the series and the only one I’ve read . The writing is more than enough to make me interested in reading the earlier two books with hope for a better connection with the characters.
I received a copy of this book from Knopf Publishing Group through Edelweiss.
It’s 2017, in Minnesota and Greta is unhappy and lonely, resentful of her husband’s infidelity, but it feels like it’s more than that. Maybe she never loved him. Searching for something - but what ? She travels to Norway where her husband is on business in Oslo, to end their marriage, but she doesn’t go to him . Instead she goes further north to the place where her ancestors were born looking for their story perhaps, and in the process discovers herself.
It’s in that place further north in Hammerfest, Norway that the second narrative unfolds in 1897 and the two narratives alternate. Odd Einer, her great, great, great grandfather coming back from a treacherous trek as he sees a funeral happening, his funeral. In these past sections of the narrative, it’s a telling of his story and the legend he becomes when his story is written by a newsman. I was most moved in these sections by the heartbreak and sorrow that he and his wife suffer when they don’t hear from their daughter, Thea now in America and not heard from for a year. Thea, the connection between the narratives, Greta’s great great grandmother. I would have given this five stars if it didn’t take so long to learn about Thea and if I could have connected more easily to Greta. This will not be for everyone. If you’re looking for an action filled plot, this won’t give it to you, but if this quiet, beautiful prose is something that engages you, you will probably enjoy it. You can feel the cold and the descriptions of the surroundings are pretty amazing. This is the third book of the series and the only one I’ve read . The writing is more than enough to make me interested in reading the earlier two books with hope for a better connection with the characters.
I received a copy of this book from Knopf Publishing Group through Edelweiss.
May 24, 2020
Norway, 1897, Odd Einar Eide returns home from a sea voyage to find that his burial is taking place. He had been declared dead after his voyage went seriously awry. How he survived for months on the Arctic ice is one he will tell and one that will give him myth like status.
Five generations later, Gretchen is confronting the end of her marriage. She travels from Minnesota to Hammerfest, Norway and there she will find both an old and new future.
The coldness of the ice reflects the coldness Gretchen feels in her marriage. Survival in life,whatever the conditions, endings, beginnings and the ties we have to the past. This is a beautifully written book, in every way. We get a full look at how life was for these Eide ancestors of a time passed. Amazing character portrayals. Two timelines but I enjoyed them both. Both these characters are doubting but brave. There is so much love here, sorrow yes, but it is love that binds.
If you enjoyed Heaven and Hell, than you will enjoy this third book of the Eide family, though this book has more sexual scenes within. The good kind though, scenes of want and love. A slower paced, a quieter book but so incredibly moving.
"Wasn't it strange how music could rest in you for so long without being heard, but still be called up from old stores of memory."
"Yes, but I only took comfort in how the snow obliterated me. How it made me meaningless. How, when measured against it, I was nothing."
"Isn't it often true that our lives are but pale reflections of our aspirations, Herr Eide."
ARC from Edelweiss.
Five generations later, Gretchen is confronting the end of her marriage. She travels from Minnesota to Hammerfest, Norway and there she will find both an old and new future.
The coldness of the ice reflects the coldness Gretchen feels in her marriage. Survival in life,whatever the conditions, endings, beginnings and the ties we have to the past. This is a beautifully written book, in every way. We get a full look at how life was for these Eide ancestors of a time passed. Amazing character portrayals. Two timelines but I enjoyed them both. Both these characters are doubting but brave. There is so much love here, sorrow yes, but it is love that binds.
If you enjoyed Heaven and Hell, than you will enjoy this third book of the Eide family, though this book has more sexual scenes within. The good kind though, scenes of want and love. A slower paced, a quieter book but so incredibly moving.
"Wasn't it strange how music could rest in you for so long without being heard, but still be called up from old stores of memory."
"Yes, but I only took comfort in how the snow obliterated me. How it made me meaningless. How, when measured against it, I was nothing."
"Isn't it often true that our lives are but pale reflections of our aspirations, Herr Eide."
ARC from Edelweiss.
September 3, 2020
Best part of book was Odd’s recount of his two weeks on the arctic ice. Peter should avoid the temptation of writing love scenes.
October 1, 2020
This is a 5 star book if you like Greta. I didn't. Did the book ever mention a friend of hers? Nope...because people don't want a negative angry self centered twit like her for a friend. I did love the family history part but to think that finding my great great great grandfather's story is going to help me become a happy better person? Not. Obviously I did have some issues with the book but for the most part it is fabulous!
January 31, 2020
Northernmost is a beautifully written saga. It's a survival story of a fisherman from Norway that trickles down to present day descendants in Minnesota. The imagery of the north is so vivid, it becomes a haunting presence throughout the novel. Combined with the angst of a love story and the humanity of the characters, it's a perfect historical journey. Loved it!
May 7, 2021
Well that was brutal. I knew it was going to be slow to start, but by the last page it still hadn't picked up any sort of momentum. Picture slogging your way through neck-deep molasses without any clear purpose. Sad molasses at that, if there is such a thing. And when you get to the end of the sad molasses you look down at your exhausted and depressed self and wonder why on earth you stuck with the ordeal. Yikes.
November 30, 2020
I read the other two books in the series.
This one didn't hold my attention, because I didn't like the protagonist Greta.
This book includes a very helpful family tree chart.
Started this book but stopped reading.
This one didn't hold my attention, because I didn't like the protagonist Greta.
This book includes a very helpful family tree chart.
Started this book but stopped reading.
November 27, 2020
Unfortunately, this is Geye's least impressive work. I do enjoy the split narrative, but the lead character in the modern day narrative (2017 and 2018)--Greta--is an insufferable stereotype (bitter, unhappy, cruel, and unwilling to do the work to address these things). All of this despite having a loving family and more blessings than most people have in their lifetimes. Geye attempts to make us sympathetic to her because of a husband who eventually seeks out the affection she doesn't give and cheats, but makes it clear that her unhappiness and unwillingness to do anything about it pushed him away. Readers should despise his character because of this, but she is so clearly a horrible person--within 20 pages--that readers are more likely to sympathize with her husband. That's just crazy, because in a real-life scenario there are no excuses for his behavior. What a failure in character development. Greta's character receives the slightest redemption in the final pages, but it's not enough. The most interesting character in her narrative is far and away her father, Gus, who we all know from the pages of Wintering. This narrative also featured graphic, practically pornographic depictions of sex that did nothing for the story. Sex can work in capital L Literature but it has to serve a purpose, just like anything else. In this case it felt like arbitrary shock value.
The 1897-1900 narrative is classic Peter Geye. We learn the the backstory of Thea from The Lighthouse Road and meet the original Odd Einer Eide, as well as his wife Inger, who acts as something of an anti-Greta, what with being motivated to find happiness in serving and helping others as opposed to Greta's self-focused nature that literally causes her misery. This narrative should have been fleshed out as a novel of its own. It should have been this novel.
Modern narrative: C+ for Gus
1897-1900 narrative: A. Just tremendous.
This was a tough read. I recommend it simply because of for the 1897 narrative, but be prepared to almost hate half of this book.
The 1897-1900 narrative is classic Peter Geye. We learn the the backstory of Thea from The Lighthouse Road and meet the original Odd Einer Eide, as well as his wife Inger, who acts as something of an anti-Greta, what with being motivated to find happiness in serving and helping others as opposed to Greta's self-focused nature that literally causes her misery. This narrative should have been fleshed out as a novel of its own. It should have been this novel.
Modern narrative: C+ for Gus
1897-1900 narrative: A. Just tremendous.
This was a tough read. I recommend it simply because of for the 1897 narrative, but be prepared to almost hate half of this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2020
Third in a series about the Eide family. I liked it but didn’t enjoy the many descriptions of snow and cold. I’m glad I read it in the fall rather then the winter!
December 6, 2019
In 1897, in Norway, a man finally makes it home after a near death experience in the Arctic only to find his wife attending his burial, having thought he had perished on his journey. In 2018, that man’s direct descendant is in a loveless marriage until she goes to a small town in Norway and hears music, and see the musician, that will change her life and teach her how to love again. Going back and forth to these two couples and their eras are just a pure joy. It’s an amazing book with some of the most interesting characters driving the book forward.
September 21, 2020
I was a bit disappointed in this novel about the Eide family. I loved the others, but this one went back and forth from present day to the 1800’s. It was a bit abrupt and the stories didn’t mesh well. I love this author though and overall enjoyed this latest installment.
December 3, 2020
I’m torn about this book. In some ways I really liked it and Geye’s writing was, particularly the parts while the protagonist is in the icy tundra, excellent. But the rest of the story was a little meh for me. Also it was too sexually explicit for me personally.
February 22, 2020
The challenge of writing any length of fiction covering a setting as far away as two centuries ago, in a town facing the Arctic Ocean, I can only imagine is immense, even if you do live there. Without knowing how much time Geye spent in Hammerfest, or Norway in general, or having been there myself, I can say his execution of the storyline feels flawless. The language, the cuisine, the economy, the way they survived blizzards...and this feeling of coldness any time these chapters began were stunningly sharp. When an author is trying to convince you of a place you know they've never been, it can feel forced. This just felt wholly authentic.
I start the review here because, as a writer, that alone impressed me most. The attention to detail, couched in strong narration, hooked me from the outset, and yet never alienated me as a reader. I felt like I was there with Odd Einar Eide in Norway, and stranded in Spitzbergen. And that's the other thing--making a story that takes place in a world so distant from most readers' own experience can be a challenge to hold their attention, and yet the setup kept me hooked. Both a story of Odd's survival, and his wife's recovery after his return (he'd been gone so long she'd made a grave for him) feels very real. I suppose you couldn't just accept your believed-dead spouse with open arms immediately. You have to come out of that grief somehow, if at all, and Geye captures this transition fantastically.
Meanwhile, in the present narrative, Odd and Inger's great-great-great granddaughter clearly hates her husband, and finds herself in Hammerfest on a whim, which changes her life. This plotline, while very different from Odd's, does a great job of not trying to parallel his story. Hers is of falling out of love, and possibly back into it. As her "Eat Pray Love" journey begins to form, she learns some of her family's past. The only thing these two stories really seem to have in common is that they're both stories of couples set adrift by huge gulfs of distance--one physically, and the other emotionally. Meanwhile, readers are left wondering whatever ended up happening to Thea, Odd's daughter who went to America, and is the linchpin between him and Greta.
The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way (and it was only a little) was Greta's hatred for her husband. She loathed him with every bone in her body, and it showed. And while she could blame this on his transgressions, she does not. In fact, it's not only clear she was distant from him long before that, but that she never really loved him in the first place. His affair is obviously the result of being trapped in a loveless marriage, and he clearly wants to make things work while she wants only to torture him with every word from her lips. She was never a heroine in my eyes, and maybe that was the point, but all it did was make me root against her. It felt like Geye wanted the reader to pity her, at least a little, but I never did. I definitely wanted her to move on, but more for the husband's sake. Why she was such a terrible person, I never fully understood. And I didn't need her to be nice to enjoy her storyline better. Like any antihero, if I understand where her pain is coming from, then I can accept her morals. But her reasons for cruelty never felt fully explained, and she let it ruin her family.
That aside, I still enjoyed her story, and the breaks it gave from the past narratives. Overall, this is a powerful book about love and loss, and what holds families together.
I start the review here because, as a writer, that alone impressed me most. The attention to detail, couched in strong narration, hooked me from the outset, and yet never alienated me as a reader. I felt like I was there with Odd Einar Eide in Norway, and stranded in Spitzbergen. And that's the other thing--making a story that takes place in a world so distant from most readers' own experience can be a challenge to hold their attention, and yet the setup kept me hooked. Both a story of Odd's survival, and his wife's recovery after his return (he'd been gone so long she'd made a grave for him) feels very real. I suppose you couldn't just accept your believed-dead spouse with open arms immediately. You have to come out of that grief somehow, if at all, and Geye captures this transition fantastically.
Meanwhile, in the present narrative, Odd and Inger's great-great-great granddaughter clearly hates her husband, and finds herself in Hammerfest on a whim, which changes her life. This plotline, while very different from Odd's, does a great job of not trying to parallel his story. Hers is of falling out of love, and possibly back into it. As her "Eat Pray Love" journey begins to form, she learns some of her family's past. The only thing these two stories really seem to have in common is that they're both stories of couples set adrift by huge gulfs of distance--one physically, and the other emotionally. Meanwhile, readers are left wondering whatever ended up happening to Thea, Odd's daughter who went to America, and is the linchpin between him and Greta.
The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way (and it was only a little) was Greta's hatred for her husband. She loathed him with every bone in her body, and it showed. And while she could blame this on his transgressions, she does not. In fact, it's not only clear she was distant from him long before that, but that she never really loved him in the first place. His affair is obviously the result of being trapped in a loveless marriage, and he clearly wants to make things work while she wants only to torture him with every word from her lips. She was never a heroine in my eyes, and maybe that was the point, but all it did was make me root against her. It felt like Geye wanted the reader to pity her, at least a little, but I never did. I definitely wanted her to move on, but more for the husband's sake. Why she was such a terrible person, I never fully understood. And I didn't need her to be nice to enjoy her storyline better. Like any antihero, if I understand where her pain is coming from, then I can accept her morals. But her reasons for cruelty never felt fully explained, and she let it ruin her family.
That aside, I still enjoyed her story, and the breaks it gave from the past narratives. Overall, this is a powerful book about love and loss, and what holds families together.
October 13, 2020
Life themes through generations
Great addition to the two previous books in this family saga, Lighthouse Road and Wintering, by expanding the story into the 1890s in Norway and into the 2010s in Minnesota and Norway, focusing on family love, immigration, and life balances. Any of the three books could be read alone, but each expands on the other two, and all focus on important life themes.
Great addition to the two previous books in this family saga, Lighthouse Road and Wintering, by expanding the story into the 1890s in Norway and into the 2010s in Minnesota and Norway, focusing on family love, immigration, and life balances. Any of the three books could be read alone, but each expands on the other two, and all focus on important life themes.
August 30, 2020
What a terrific book - I read it nonstop. Now I'll catch up with his other books.
September 26, 2020
Magnificent
Another extraordinary novel from this author who literally transports you on this cold journey with him, while providing the warmth of familiarity and descriptions that will stay with you while you await his next great read.
Another extraordinary novel from this author who literally transports you on this cold journey with him, while providing the warmth of familiarity and descriptions that will stay with you while you await his next great read.
September 11, 2022
I love family sagas, and this one fits snugly into the genre. It's still fairly escapist: I would call it a beach read, but given its setting, maybe "ski chalet read" would be more appropriate. Some of Geye's dialogue feels a bit stilted, but usually within the context of Greta's failing marriage, so it almost works. If you have an itch for anything Scandi, this book will scratch it!
September 22, 2020
I felt at times that this book was like trudging through the snow... I could relate to the winter and snow. The book goes back to 1897 and tells the story of Odd Einar Eide, a fisherman, who survived weeks separated from everyone in Spitzenbergen. The rest of the book relates to Greta, a direct descendant of Odd Einar Eide, who was going through relationship upheaval. The descriptions of Norway and Northern Minnesota were lovely, as long as you don't mind winter and cold.
January 13, 2020
I just finished this amazing book and it was breathtaking. Deeply rich character development, tons of arctic adventure, and a beautiful weaving between generations across Norway and Minnesota. I could not put the book down and was intensely drawn into the world Peter created. I highly recommend to anyone- you can pre-order the book too!! Due out April 2020.
December 17, 2024
Geye is amazing and his writing about place/nature is second to none. Of the three Eide Family books, this is the most difficult read - because of both its deep literary style and how slowly it moves. But I think the real reason such a relatively short book took me so long to read is because it is so heart-wrenchingly, endlessly sad. I couldn't bear to read more than several chapters on some days. Highly recommended with the caveat that you need to be in a place to deal with so much melancholy.
October 12, 2020
In a recent interview, Peter Geye said he prefers people think of his three books about the Eide Family as a family saga, not a trilogy. This is definitely more accurate, as the main interest and thrust of these novels is tracing a family of Norwegian immigrants from the time Thea Eide arrives in Minnesota in the 1890s, with twists and turns and motifs and repeated themes, until 2017 when Greta Nansen (nee Eide) moves into her grandfather's fish house on the shore of Lake Superior.
I read the books out of order, and have to say I preferred "The Lighthouse Road" and "Northernmost" to the acclaimed "Wintering." You need that part of the saga, which like the others is not linear but moves back and forth in time and generation. It also explores a major theme of the books: the search for adventure, particularly adventure in northern wilderness. And another theme, fathers and sons and mixed-up parentages and couplings as various men seek out their destinies, legacies, and place in the world.
"Northernmost" is the most accomplished. Geye is able to take his time and he has honed his skills, interweaving the contemporary narrative of Greta told in straightforward, vivid fashion, and the first-person narrative of Odd Einer Eide (whose grandson will bear his name in Minnesota), who arrives home in Hammerfest on the day of his own funeral, having survived an encounter with a grizzly bear during an arctic seal-hunting expedition. The language of that story approaches that of Moby Dick. It is epic, man against nature, though this story aims to go deep into the interior landscape of a very self-aware adventurer. It is beautifully told, rich, a real accomplishment.
Geye is a very talented historical novelist. And he is in the grip of a very large story here, which he tells very well. After all three books, I loved Thea Eide's story and person best. Many of the other women in the books are hard to figure out or beside the point. Inger, in "Northernmost," is quite compelling, too, and her relationship with Odd Einer is in some ways the most settled and lovely in the family saga. There are many things to dislike about the contemporary Greta, and I found her Romanticism, which propelled her story, grating at times. But I'm more classicist than Romantic. And her plot line definitely reveals traits and choices that have dogged this family for generations.
This book will not disappoint. The writing is excellent and this family, with their attachment to big waters and recurrent trouble with both love and bears, will enter your heart.
I read the books out of order, and have to say I preferred "The Lighthouse Road" and "Northernmost" to the acclaimed "Wintering." You need that part of the saga, which like the others is not linear but moves back and forth in time and generation. It also explores a major theme of the books: the search for adventure, particularly adventure in northern wilderness. And another theme, fathers and sons and mixed-up parentages and couplings as various men seek out their destinies, legacies, and place in the world.
"Northernmost" is the most accomplished. Geye is able to take his time and he has honed his skills, interweaving the contemporary narrative of Greta told in straightforward, vivid fashion, and the first-person narrative of Odd Einer Eide (whose grandson will bear his name in Minnesota), who arrives home in Hammerfest on the day of his own funeral, having survived an encounter with a grizzly bear during an arctic seal-hunting expedition. The language of that story approaches that of Moby Dick. It is epic, man against nature, though this story aims to go deep into the interior landscape of a very self-aware adventurer. It is beautifully told, rich, a real accomplishment.
Geye is a very talented historical novelist. And he is in the grip of a very large story here, which he tells very well. After all three books, I loved Thea Eide's story and person best. Many of the other women in the books are hard to figure out or beside the point. Inger, in "Northernmost," is quite compelling, too, and her relationship with Odd Einer is in some ways the most settled and lovely in the family saga. There are many things to dislike about the contemporary Greta, and I found her Romanticism, which propelled her story, grating at times. But I'm more classicist than Romantic. And her plot line definitely reveals traits and choices that have dogged this family for generations.
This book will not disappoint. The writing is excellent and this family, with their attachment to big waters and recurrent trouble with both love and bears, will enter your heart.
October 20, 2020
I just finished this most recent book by Geye, which jumps back and forth between two generations of the Eide family, separated by continents and nearly 130 years. Greta, the main character in the current time setting, is dogged by a bad marriage. Odd Einar Eide and his wife Inger are trying to survive in the hard place that is Hammerfest, Norway in the late 1890s.
In the final analysis, this is the most powerful and moving work of fiction I have read in 2020.
For reasons that I am not able to fully articulate, this book really tweaked my emotions. The book deals with loss, love, and above all else the transitory nature of our lives and everything about them, including our happiness and our contentment. There is the theme of love that transcends time and place, and even life itself. It is also a careful examination of the power of persistence.
I found Odd and Inger’s story (including Thea’s, their missing much loved daughter) to be the most powerful. Their love for each other and for the life they have together, as meager as it may be in so many ways, transcends all else. Several have commented how they did not care for Greta, that she is a seemingly selfish and one dimensional character. Perhaps. But I read her story differently, It is a statement that, in the end, we all are responsible for our own happiness and fulfillment. And more often than not, finding happiness cannot be done without cost irrespective of the path that is chosen. In other words, finding happiness takes courage, and maybe even a lot of it Indeed, that seems to be the underlying theme of the entire book. We can find happiness. But it will probably cost us. And because we know this, it takes genuine courage to continue the quest. On top of all of this, because our lives are transitory, we cannot have it or hold it for very long.
Geye is one of the most accomplished and evocative authors at work today. His imagination is highly developed but so is his ability to tell a set of complex, interrelated stories. And stories where place and setting and time matter as much as the characters themselves. These things matter a great deal, in fact. His characters ooze with humanity in every respect. If you have lived any life at all, that is, if you have been through hard places and in tough circumstances, this book (and all of his books, really) will cause you to ponder and think for days (weeks) after you finish. He is that good.
In the final analysis, this is the most powerful and moving work of fiction I have read in 2020.
For reasons that I am not able to fully articulate, this book really tweaked my emotions. The book deals with loss, love, and above all else the transitory nature of our lives and everything about them, including our happiness and our contentment. There is the theme of love that transcends time and place, and even life itself. It is also a careful examination of the power of persistence.
I found Odd and Inger’s story (including Thea’s, their missing much loved daughter) to be the most powerful. Their love for each other and for the life they have together, as meager as it may be in so many ways, transcends all else. Several have commented how they did not care for Greta, that she is a seemingly selfish and one dimensional character. Perhaps. But I read her story differently, It is a statement that, in the end, we all are responsible for our own happiness and fulfillment. And more often than not, finding happiness cannot be done without cost irrespective of the path that is chosen. In other words, finding happiness takes courage, and maybe even a lot of it Indeed, that seems to be the underlying theme of the entire book. We can find happiness. But it will probably cost us. And because we know this, it takes genuine courage to continue the quest. On top of all of this, because our lives are transitory, we cannot have it or hold it for very long.
Geye is one of the most accomplished and evocative authors at work today. His imagination is highly developed but so is his ability to tell a set of complex, interrelated stories. And stories where place and setting and time matter as much as the characters themselves. These things matter a great deal, in fact. His characters ooze with humanity in every respect. If you have lived any life at all, that is, if you have been through hard places and in tough circumstances, this book (and all of his books, really) will cause you to ponder and think for days (weeks) after you finish. He is that good.
March 6, 2020
Peter Geye is back with the third installment of the Eide family story, Northernmost. Like the first in the series, Lighthouse Road, Northernmost alternates between two generations. In 1897, Odd Einar Eide returns home from a harrowing near-death seal hunting expedition in the Arctic to his own funeral. He’s been missing and presumed dead. His wife, Inger, has gone to work in the home of a wealthy benefactor in order to survive. Their precarious financial situation has become nearly untenable in his absence and it will take time to rebuild his fishing business and his relationship with his wife which has become strained since their only daughter, Thea, sailed to America two years prior. Odd and Inger have heard nothing from Thea and are uncertain about her fate.
In alternating chapters, Geye tells the 2017 story of Greta Nansen, who has finally given up on her marriage. She leaves her two children with her father to travel to Oslo where her husband is working to end the marriage, but on an impulse travels to Hammerfest instead, the town of her ancestors. Once there, she meets and falls in love with Stig Hjalmarson, a musician, who introduces her to an old text, the story of Odd Einar and his Arctic expedition.
Northernmost is an expedition of heart and soul across continents and generations. With crystalline prose, Peter Geye chronicles Odd Einar’s gnawing hunger and piercing numbness as he traverses the Arctic alone while being stalked by an injured ice bear. Meanwhile, over a century later, Odd’s descendent Greta is navigating a lonely and icy existence in a loveless marriage until she discovers inspiration and courage from Odd’s story and takes a second chance at love.
Geye is a master storyteller who weaves together the threads of multiple generations into whole cloth. Northernmost is his best yet and will be available April 14, but you can pre-order it now from your favorite bookseller. Listen to my interview with Peter on Superior Reads on April 23 at 7:00 pm on WTIP 90.7 Grand Marais or on the web at www.wtip.org. Listen to all my interviews and read my reviews at www.superiorreads.blog.
This is Lin Salisbury with Superior Reviews.
In alternating chapters, Geye tells the 2017 story of Greta Nansen, who has finally given up on her marriage. She leaves her two children with her father to travel to Oslo where her husband is working to end the marriage, but on an impulse travels to Hammerfest instead, the town of her ancestors. Once there, she meets and falls in love with Stig Hjalmarson, a musician, who introduces her to an old text, the story of Odd Einar and his Arctic expedition.
Northernmost is an expedition of heart and soul across continents and generations. With crystalline prose, Peter Geye chronicles Odd Einar’s gnawing hunger and piercing numbness as he traverses the Arctic alone while being stalked by an injured ice bear. Meanwhile, over a century later, Odd’s descendent Greta is navigating a lonely and icy existence in a loveless marriage until she discovers inspiration and courage from Odd’s story and takes a second chance at love.
Geye is a master storyteller who weaves together the threads of multiple generations into whole cloth. Northernmost is his best yet and will be available April 14, but you can pre-order it now from your favorite bookseller. Listen to my interview with Peter on Superior Reads on April 23 at 7:00 pm on WTIP 90.7 Grand Marais or on the web at www.wtip.org. Listen to all my interviews and read my reviews at www.superiorreads.blog.
This is Lin Salisbury with Superior Reviews.
June 20, 2022
Nous retrouvons le personnage de Gus, il est maintenant veuf et grand père. Encore deux temporalités différentes avec deux histoires pour une seule et même famille. Les générations se suivent et l'arbre proposé au début du livre m'a été d'une grande aide. Un second roman traduit en français qui nous fait toucher du doigt la psychogénéalogie, un vrai régal. Comme pour le premier roman, j'ai été captivé par l'histoire d'Odd Einar Eide, l'ancêtre, nous sommes en 1897 en.Norvège, le premier chapitre raconte son retour quasi miraculeux de l’île du Spitzberg, le jour même où Inger sa femme assistait à ses funérailles. En alternance nous passons en 2017 dans le Minnesota où Greta la fille de Gus décide de mettre fin à son mariage. Tout en confiant la garde de ses enfants à son père pour partir découvrir ses racines norvégiennes. J'ai adoré ce voyage dans le temps passé , les deux récits sont passionnants, cinq générations les séparent. Un roman fabuleux sur la résilience face aux plus grandes douleurs. Il est beaucoup question de survie dans ce livre. Comment survivre dans un mariage où l'on n'aime plus, comment survivre sans l'âtre aimé et plus prosaïquement comment survivre seul perdu sur la glace à la merci des ours polaires. Le froid est un élément omniprésent dans cette famille, « mais tous ont vécu à proximité d'une étendue d'eau gelée, mesurant le passage du temps non seulement à l’aune de leur amour les uns pour les autres, mais aussi, et souvent à celle des hivers à venir ou tout juste terminés. » Des personnages courageux qui savent ce qu'aimer veut dire. Le point commun aux deux histoires étant les couples séparés physiquement pour l'un et émotionnellement pour l'autre ainsi que le personnage de Théa qui vient les relier au delà du temps. Un livre grandiose à tous points de vue mais particulièrement dans la capacité de l'auteur à nous fournir détails et anecdotes savoureuses. Bonne lecture.
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March 1, 2022
It wasn't until I finished the book that I realized it was Part 3 in a series. I won't be reading the first two despite some beautifully poetic language and a captivating tale of survival.
This novel captures the story of Norwegian Odd Einar Eide who miraculously endures fourteen days alone in the frigid northernmost Arctic with only the company of an ice bear after a disaster befalls the expedition of seal hunters (or should I say seal clubbers). The invitation to join this notorious adventure and the money that he could bring home convince the humble, poor husband of Greta , and father of Thea to embark on and incredibly dangerous journey.
After returning home Odd is persuaded to tell his story to a writer who will publish it in his book. The retelling of those days filled with snow storms, loneliness, and hunger provide lessons in patience, forgiveness and faith that will serve his great great granddaughter of Thea over 100 years later.
Odd sends his daughter Thea, at just sixteen years old, to relatives in Minnesota in hopes of a better life. In 2017, Greta unhappily married with two children learns of her ancestor's harrowing tale and embarks on a new life for herself.
The quietly, eloquent description of Odd's adventure and life upon his return are in stark contrast to that of the modern story. It almost felt like two different writers. The extensive sexual narrative so explicit, just felt gratuitous. I didn't find myself seeing the connection between the two stories. Odd is likable, modest, and lovingly appreciative of his family. Greta, who is compared to Odd and uses him as a model of behavior is petulant and whiny, definitely not someone to whom future generations will aspire.
I wish Greye had concentrated solely on the historical novel and not tried to recreate a modern novel with parallel values. It just didn't work!
This novel captures the story of Norwegian Odd Einar Eide who miraculously endures fourteen days alone in the frigid northernmost Arctic with only the company of an ice bear after a disaster befalls the expedition of seal hunters (or should I say seal clubbers). The invitation to join this notorious adventure and the money that he could bring home convince the humble, poor husband of Greta , and father of Thea to embark on and incredibly dangerous journey.
After returning home Odd is persuaded to tell his story to a writer who will publish it in his book. The retelling of those days filled with snow storms, loneliness, and hunger provide lessons in patience, forgiveness and faith that will serve his great great granddaughter of Thea over 100 years later.
Odd sends his daughter Thea, at just sixteen years old, to relatives in Minnesota in hopes of a better life. In 2017, Greta unhappily married with two children learns of her ancestor's harrowing tale and embarks on a new life for herself.
The quietly, eloquent description of Odd's adventure and life upon his return are in stark contrast to that of the modern story. It almost felt like two different writers. The extensive sexual narrative so explicit, just felt gratuitous. I didn't find myself seeing the connection between the two stories. Odd is likable, modest, and lovingly appreciative of his family. Greta, who is compared to Odd and uses him as a model of behavior is petulant and whiny, definitely not someone to whom future generations will aspire.
I wish Greye had concentrated solely on the historical novel and not tried to recreate a modern novel with parallel values. It just didn't work!
April 15, 2021
This is a double time line story – perhaps one even may call it triple time line, since the 1897 time line of Odd Einar Eide is its own double time line after he recounts his survival adventure after arriving home to find his funeral in progress.
It had been reported that Odd Einar and his partner had been killed by an ice bear on Krossferden while hunting for seals. Since only Odd Einar’s boots, but no part of his body was found, his beloved hardingfele (a traditional Norwegian musical instrument) was buried in his grave.
The modern story is of Odd Einar’s great great granddaughter Greta Nansen, who, a hundred years later in 2017 finds her marriage is over. Did she ever really love her husband? Her husband has returned to his homeland of Norway, where he is having an affair. Greta determines to follow him from their home in Minnesota to Oslo to confront him. Once in Norway, she turns aside to go to Hammerfest, a town where her ancestors lived. And there she meets a man.
She determines over the course of the next year that although her happiness with her husband is over, she still must create a nurturing home for her children. She realizes that her husband, despite his affair, still loves her and that leaving him may destroy him; but she can no longer stay without destroying herself.
So this novel is the story of two very different types of survival - with Odd Einarr surviving physically and Nora struggling to survive emotionally. Both must search out the meanings of life and of love after life changing circumstances.
It seems like an odd combination of subjects - yet somehow it worked for me.
It had been reported that Odd Einar and his partner had been killed by an ice bear on Krossferden while hunting for seals. Since only Odd Einar’s boots, but no part of his body was found, his beloved hardingfele (a traditional Norwegian musical instrument) was buried in his grave.
The modern story is of Odd Einar’s great great granddaughter Greta Nansen, who, a hundred years later in 2017 finds her marriage is over. Did she ever really love her husband? Her husband has returned to his homeland of Norway, where he is having an affair. Greta determines to follow him from their home in Minnesota to Oslo to confront him. Once in Norway, she turns aside to go to Hammerfest, a town where her ancestors lived. And there she meets a man.
She determines over the course of the next year that although her happiness with her husband is over, she still must create a nurturing home for her children. She realizes that her husband, despite his affair, still loves her and that leaving him may destroy him; but she can no longer stay without destroying herself.
So this novel is the story of two very different types of survival - with Odd Einarr surviving physically and Nora struggling to survive emotionally. Both must search out the meanings of life and of love after life changing circumstances.
It seems like an odd combination of subjects - yet somehow it worked for me.
January 16, 2021
The book primarily follows two individuals, a man (Odd Einar Eide) in Norway in the late 1800's and a woman (Greta Nansen) in Minnesota in 2017. Greta is a decendent of Odd Einar, so their stories tend - somewhat - to compliment each other. Although I admit, the link is tenuous.
I found the story of Odd Einar to be far more compelling and realistic than that of Greta. His story includes a near fatal description of being lost on the ice of the Arctic, and a rescue when he had nearly lost all hope of surviving. He is married to Inger, whom he deeply loves. Inger is stunned to see him when he finally returns. She had given him up for dead.
Add to this their daughter, Thea, whom they dearly love, emigrated to America two years before, but has answered their many letters.
On the other hand, Greta is a woman suffering through a marriage with a man she does not love, even though he is generally portrayed as a good person, and is in love with her. It's more accurate to say she detests him. It is not clear why her animosity runs so deep.
Greta travels to the town in Norway where Odd Einar and Inger had lived, and falls in love with a man named Stig. She quickly sees him as her true love, and becomes his lover.
I found this part of the story difficult to accept. It seemed the relationship was based more on lust than love. What eventually became of it? Can Greta ever be truly satisfied in any relationship?
The book is well written, and even though I was put off by Greta's behavior, I cannot knock the author for her portrayal. It was honest. So --- 4 stars!
I found the story of Odd Einar to be far more compelling and realistic than that of Greta. His story includes a near fatal description of being lost on the ice of the Arctic, and a rescue when he had nearly lost all hope of surviving. He is married to Inger, whom he deeply loves. Inger is stunned to see him when he finally returns. She had given him up for dead.
Add to this their daughter, Thea, whom they dearly love, emigrated to America two years before, but has answered their many letters.
On the other hand, Greta is a woman suffering through a marriage with a man she does not love, even though he is generally portrayed as a good person, and is in love with her. It's more accurate to say she detests him. It is not clear why her animosity runs so deep.
Greta travels to the town in Norway where Odd Einar and Inger had lived, and falls in love with a man named Stig. She quickly sees him as her true love, and becomes his lover.
I found this part of the story difficult to accept. It seemed the relationship was based more on lust than love. What eventually became of it? Can Greta ever be truly satisfied in any relationship?
The book is well written, and even though I was put off by Greta's behavior, I cannot knock the author for her portrayal. It was honest. So --- 4 stars!
February 13, 2022
I enjoyed this book and Geye's writing as the completion of the Eide Family trilogy - I definitely wouldn't have liked it as much without the background of the first two books (e.g., knowing what actually happens to Thea in The Lighthouse Road) and recommend reading all three, with Wintering being my favorite. All three deal with family relationships, facing demons and stories of sea and cold - both in Minnesota and the backstory in Norway told in Northernmost. With the exception of Thea, the focus of the earlier novels is more male (father/son), so the focus on Greta was a little different and not quite as effective, as I think Geye is better with male characters. The story of Odd Eide from 1897 Norway was well done and interesting and filled in some gaps from the previous books, but was also a little slow - it took a long time to hear about his two weeks out on the ice. I did appreciate learning of the hard life up by the Arctic Circle, the loneliness and the Fonn. The modern day sections moved more quickly, but were also a bit less compelling and I could see how they would be less interesting if you hadn't read the first two books and knew Gus and his family. While Greta was a bit dislikable, she was still somewhat sympathetic to me and less perfect than some of her ancestors (her mom being notably too perfect). I do agree with some others that the sex scenes were a bit unnecessarily explicit and the romance section a bit too fairytale like. Would it last? We won't know unless the trilogy becomes a quartet.
May 11, 2022
Northernmost is third in a series which includes The Lighthouse Road, Wintering and Northernmost. I suggest reading the books in order AND, if you haven't started reading the series, decide to read them in rather quick succession just to keep the story, characters and locations in mind. You'll thank me in the end. The synopsis is adequate so I won't reiterate.
A comment on the novel organization: The story moves between 1897 and present day. It is beautifully done and not jarring as this form of storytelling is on occasion. The characters from the 1897 side of the story are easily liked or disliked. I had a more difficult time choosing like or dislike for the characters in present day sections. In fact, one character fluctuated quite a bit throughout the book until finally landing in the "like" column. My opinion.
I will say, Geye wrote a couple of awkward intimate scenes in the book. The scenes are either unnecessary and they are either clinical or interchange slang and clinical terms for body parts that don't seem to fit with the situation. Minor criticism.
Peter Geye has become one of my favorite, go-to-authors. That's the good news. The bad news is I tend to hold on to his latest book until the next one is published. I don't want to be without a Geye book in my stash pile.
A comment on the novel organization: The story moves between 1897 and present day. It is beautifully done and not jarring as this form of storytelling is on occasion. The characters from the 1897 side of the story are easily liked or disliked. I had a more difficult time choosing like or dislike for the characters in present day sections. In fact, one character fluctuated quite a bit throughout the book until finally landing in the "like" column. My opinion.
I will say, Geye wrote a couple of awkward intimate scenes in the book. The scenes are either unnecessary and they are either clinical or interchange slang and clinical terms for body parts that don't seem to fit with the situation. Minor criticism.
Peter Geye has become one of my favorite, go-to-authors. That's the good news. The bad news is I tend to hold on to his latest book until the next one is published. I don't want to be without a Geye book in my stash pile.
June 2, 2021
In spite of the cold, bleakness of this story -- two stories of one family, actually, separated by about 120 years -- it gave me a warm feeling based on the hope that the oldest character displayed throughout. Odd Einar Eide, a fisherman in Norway, joins a sealing expedition to the far north, hoping to earn enough to support his wife with less anxiety. Toward the end of the expedition he is lost alone in the polar environment, and struggles to stay alive and find a way back. The more contemporary part of the story focuses on one of his ancestors, Greta, living in Minneapolis and occasionally with her father, Gus, on the north shore of Lake Superior. I expected to enjoy and relate to her story, living in Minneapolis and knowing the north shore as I do, and perhaps understanding her life more clearly. But it was hard for me to find any connection with her, especially given her cold treatment of her husband, Frans. Peter Geye's writing is again superb. The family tree was much appreciated, but occasionally I wished that a glossary of Norwegian words had also been provided. I have an urge to re-read books 1 and 2 of the Eide trilogy, but will probably content myself with reviewing their descriptions and reviews on Goodreads.
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