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by Bjarnhild Tulloch

'Terror in the Arctic' is an autobiography set in World War II in Kirkenes, a small mining town in the north east of Norway, strategically important because of its proximity to the border with Russia. The story follows Bjarnhild, who was 5 when the war started, as she tried to make sense of the change to her family life.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

221 pages, Hardcover

First published December 13, 2011

Reviews

[Marlenesabine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sjeldent har jeg lest en bok om andre verdenskrig som er så godt skildret som hva denne forfatteren klarer å få til. Man får virkelig følelsen av å følge familien gjennom den tunge, vanskelige og til tider uutholdelige okkupasjonstiden, og jeg kjente selv gjennom lesingen på lengselen etter at den omsider måtte ta slutt, slik at hverdagen kunne bli den samme igjen (som at den noengang kunne det).

Den kaster samtidig lys på hvordan hverdagslivet gjennom krigsårene på mange måter var annerledes for dem i Nord enn andre steder i Norge.

Gjennom boken gis man et gripende og unikt innblikk i hvordan krigen innvirket på vanlige familiers hverdag og livsutvikling, og hvordan en barndom preges av å vokse opp under krig.

[Kat Pegfred · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who is sick to death of hearing about World War II, I am quite surprised at how much I cared about this story -- the writing is that good!
The reasons I liked it are:
1) it focuses on the human dimension/civilians of war -- she neither shies away from nor glorifies the horrors she's exposed to or the hardships she had to endure
2) it focuses on a lesser-known, but equally important, theater during the war -- the Norwegian Arctic
3) it also introduced me to a part of Norwegian WWII history I hadn't known about -- Swedish families fostering the children of Finnmark during the first winter after the war

[Eilidh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, I had no idea about how badly the North of Norway was affected during world war II, it really was awful. Amazing to hear from the authors perspective as a child at the time, how she remembers it all and is able to tell her family's story.

[Kenneth Fernandes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A touching autobiography of life through unimaginable hardship

[Marilyn Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book told from the viewpoint of a child who lived through the Nazi occupation of Kirkenes, Norway, and the northern county of Finmark, Norway.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For an autobiography I thought the first third of the book was written with too much emphasis on dialogue... After 70 years how much can you remember about the nuances of speech you heard as a five year old? But the style settled down (less novel like) and focused on the German occupation of Kirkenes and the family's struggle to survive Russian bombing raids. The last third of the book detailed the retreating Germans scorched earth policy and their laying waste to the Norwegians' town. The family faced extreme hardship and were lucky not to be taken south with the fleeing Germans. After the armistice the author was briefly sent to Sweden to recover - as were many, many other children - the Norwegian government fearing they wouldn't survive the oncoming winter due to poor health. Overall 3.5 stars. A quite vivid account of civilians caught in a little discussed WWII war zone.

[Laura JC · Rating 4 out of 5]

A personal account by a Norwegian-born woman who was a child living through the war in a German-occupied town in the high Arctic. Interesting and compelling.
I read a good review of it in the Shetland Times newspaper, the author now living in the Shetlands, so went out and bought it.

[Christoph Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent eye-witness account of the war times in Northern Norway.

[Hanne (TheBookReader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

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