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The House by the Fjord
A touching and atmospheric love story - When Anna Harvik travels to Norway in 1946 in order to visit the family of her late husband, the country is only just recovering from five cruel years of Nazi occupation. So it is with surprise that she finds in this cold and bitter country the capacity for new love and perhaps even a new home.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2011
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273 people want to read
About the author
Rosalind Laker
82 books191 followersA pseudonym used by Barbara Øvstedal.
Barbara Øvstedal was an author previously writing under the pseudonym Barbara Paul and Barbara Douglas. She wrote a few books under this pseudonym but later changed to Rosalind Laker when Barbara Paul gained recognition. Her many books include The Sugar Pavilion and To Dance with Kings.
Barbara Øvstedal was an author previously writing under the pseudonym Barbara Paul and Barbara Douglas. She wrote a few books under this pseudonym but later changed to Rosalind Laker when Barbara Paul gained recognition. Her many books include The Sugar Pavilion and To Dance with Kings.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
January 21, 2012
Review is slightly spoilerish
Anna met and married Norwegian pilot Johan Vartdal in a whirlwind romance while he was on leave in England. Johan didn't survive the final days of WWII and the book begins as a widowed Anna is making an extended visit to his homeland. She spends time in Oslo living with and socializing with fellow war-brides, and you will get endless descrptions of coffee parties and social gatherings that the ladies attend. About halfway through, Anna finally travels to Molde to visit her aging father-in-law who wants to deed over a cottage near by that is always handed down to a female member of the family. Anna's plans were to return to England, but she's drawn to the diary of the woman who previously owned the cottage. We finally get to see what is in this diary about half-way through, and we then get lots and lots of descriptions of life, marriage and children. Sometimes we read directly from the diary, and sometimes it is narrated back to us. There's a love interest for Anna, plus a slight bit of tension about a male family member who has too much interest in something hidden in the cottage. When that's resolved, we get more endless exposition about Anna's happy married life and children.
Seriously, that's it. I love hearing about new places and the customs and culture of the locals, but unfortunately that's pretty much all you are going to get with this. You'll learn about the food, you'll attend plenty of tea/coffee parties and maybe a wedding or two, but there just isn't any story to keep the reader interested. Library only, then buy it if you love it. If you are interested in learning more about Norway, I do highly recommend Laker's set during the German occupation.This Shining Land
Anna met and married Norwegian pilot Johan Vartdal in a whirlwind romance while he was on leave in England. Johan didn't survive the final days of WWII and the book begins as a widowed Anna is making an extended visit to his homeland. She spends time in Oslo living with and socializing with fellow war-brides, and you will get endless descrptions of coffee parties and social gatherings that the ladies attend. About halfway through, Anna finally travels to Molde to visit her aging father-in-law who wants to deed over a cottage near by that is always handed down to a female member of the family. Anna's plans were to return to England, but she's drawn to the diary of the woman who previously owned the cottage. We finally get to see what is in this diary about half-way through, and we then get lots and lots of descriptions of life, marriage and children. Sometimes we read directly from the diary, and sometimes it is narrated back to us. There's a love interest for Anna, plus a slight bit of tension about a male family member who has too much interest in something hidden in the cottage. When that's resolved, we get more endless exposition about Anna's happy married life and children.
Seriously, that's it. I love hearing about new places and the customs and culture of the locals, but unfortunately that's pretty much all you are going to get with this. You'll learn about the food, you'll attend plenty of tea/coffee parties and maybe a wedding or two, but there just isn't any story to keep the reader interested. Library only, then buy it if you love it. If you are interested in learning more about Norway, I do highly recommend Laker's set during the German occupation.This Shining Land
June 17, 2011
Rosalind Laker says in her biography that she is married to a Norwegian and lives in an old farmhouse there. Her latest novel is a love letter to her adopted country.
When Anna, a young war widow, decides to journey to her husband's homeland, she keeps insisting that it's only going to be for a short visit. Slowly but surely, she becomes enchanted by the beauty of the Norwegian landscape and heals from the shock of widowhood. Still, she prevaricates, even when her father-in-law's lawyer, Alex Ringstad, tells her that she's inherited a house. When Anna meets her father-in-law at Christmas, he gives her the journal of the original owner of the house, Ingrid. As Anna reads the journal, she realizes she can't leave Norway without seeing the house so vividly described by the vivaceous Ingrid. The fact that she and Alex have been seeing each other also makes her stay until the spring. Once she sees the house, something finally breaks in her, and she realizes that Norway has become her home and that she's learned to love Alex, and she decides to stay in Ingrid's home.
Ms. Laker describes the landscape so vividly that you could be there, and she writes about the local customs and attitudes with endearment and respect. You can see how the environment can be healing for someone who has had a sorrow as great as Anna's.
This is not really a story with a lot of conflict; it's more about depicting daily life in Norway, with all the normal bumps in the road, so don't be surprised if you can see where this story is going from the beginning. That said, The House by the Fjord is a thoroughly enjoyable read, particularly under the covers on a cold night.
When Anna, a young war widow, decides to journey to her husband's homeland, she keeps insisting that it's only going to be for a short visit. Slowly but surely, she becomes enchanted by the beauty of the Norwegian landscape and heals from the shock of widowhood. Still, she prevaricates, even when her father-in-law's lawyer, Alex Ringstad, tells her that she's inherited a house. When Anna meets her father-in-law at Christmas, he gives her the journal of the original owner of the house, Ingrid. As Anna reads the journal, she realizes she can't leave Norway without seeing the house so vividly described by the vivaceous Ingrid. The fact that she and Alex have been seeing each other also makes her stay until the spring. Once she sees the house, something finally breaks in her, and she realizes that Norway has become her home and that she's learned to love Alex, and she decides to stay in Ingrid's home.
Ms. Laker describes the landscape so vividly that you could be there, and she writes about the local customs and attitudes with endearment and respect. You can see how the environment can be healing for someone who has had a sorrow as great as Anna's.
This is not really a story with a lot of conflict; it's more about depicting daily life in Norway, with all the normal bumps in the road, so don't be surprised if you can see where this story is going from the beginning. That said, The House by the Fjord is a thoroughly enjoyable read, particularly under the covers on a cold night.
December 2, 2014
The House by the Fjord is the last novel of the prolific romance writer Barbara Øvstedal (1921-2012), who wrote primarily under the pen name of Rosalind Laker. Her many historical romance novels, notably To Dance With Kings (about the court of Louis XIV), The Golden Tulip (about Vermeer), and The Venetian Mask (about orphaned music students in the Ospedale della Pietà in 18th century Venice), brought her much recognition and the chance to work with Jacqueline Onassis, her editor at Doubleday. She was born in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England, to a Canadian father and English mother. In 1945, her life would change dramatically when she married Inge Øvstedal, a Norwegian who had escaped Nazi-occupied Norway by fishing boat in 1941. When she met him, he was stationed in West Sussex with the Royal Norwegian Air Force–the Norwegian air force in exile, which was fighting with the Allies and preparing for Normandy. In 1946, the young couple and their infant daughter moved to Gardermøen, Norway.
This town figures prominently in The House by the Fjord, in which the heroine, Anna Harvik, arrives for the first time in Norway as a war bride. The time is 1946, the immediate postwar period, when Norway is still suffering the aftershocks of the brutal Nazi occupation; this was the year in which the author herself went to live in her husband’s native country. But the fictional Anna is alone. Her husband Johan has died in the war, and she is fulfilling the demands of kindness, duty, and a good measure of curiosity by accepting an invitation from Johan’s father to visit him and see her late husband’s boyhood home. The opening chapters of the book are very agreeably filled with Anna’s interactions with the close-knit group of war brides who have banded together to help ease their adjustment to living in a new country. They accept her quickly and many become her close friends, helping her learn to speak Norwegian, teaching her about local foods, even showing her the local dance steps. As much as she appreciates this warm reception, she keeps assuring everyone that this is only a visit and she will soon be returning to her home in England. Unruffled, the townsfolk nod and hold to their own opinion that once the healing beauty of Norway seeps into her soul, she won’t ever wish to leave it.
Anna’s grieving father-in-law, Steffan, is emotionally reticent at first, yet equally determined to have her stay. She learns from (handsome, single) lawyer Alex Ringstad that Steffan has another plan in mind as well: he is eager for Anna to take possession of the old Harvik family house in the mountains–the house by the fjord–which has always been passed down the generations to female relatives. Anna rejects this idea out of hand at first, resisting as politely as she can. To pique her interest, Steffan gives Anna his own grandmother’s private journal, which he has had translated into English expressly for his English daughter-in-law and beautifully bound for her. It details Ingrid Harvik’s long and eventful life, beginning in 1878, when she was 16, and newly widowed herself. The many pages of this journal, which Laker interpolates into the story as Anna reads them, make for some of the most gripping passages of this novel.
If you love Rosamund Pilcher's books, such as The Shell Seekers, you will likely enjoy this book very much too! You can read the rest of my review at Northern Lights Reading Project.
This town figures prominently in The House by the Fjord, in which the heroine, Anna Harvik, arrives for the first time in Norway as a war bride. The time is 1946, the immediate postwar period, when Norway is still suffering the aftershocks of the brutal Nazi occupation; this was the year in which the author herself went to live in her husband’s native country. But the fictional Anna is alone. Her husband Johan has died in the war, and she is fulfilling the demands of kindness, duty, and a good measure of curiosity by accepting an invitation from Johan’s father to visit him and see her late husband’s boyhood home. The opening chapters of the book are very agreeably filled with Anna’s interactions with the close-knit group of war brides who have banded together to help ease their adjustment to living in a new country. They accept her quickly and many become her close friends, helping her learn to speak Norwegian, teaching her about local foods, even showing her the local dance steps. As much as she appreciates this warm reception, she keeps assuring everyone that this is only a visit and she will soon be returning to her home in England. Unruffled, the townsfolk nod and hold to their own opinion that once the healing beauty of Norway seeps into her soul, she won’t ever wish to leave it.
Anna’s grieving father-in-law, Steffan, is emotionally reticent at first, yet equally determined to have her stay. She learns from (handsome, single) lawyer Alex Ringstad that Steffan has another plan in mind as well: he is eager for Anna to take possession of the old Harvik family house in the mountains–the house by the fjord–which has always been passed down the generations to female relatives. Anna rejects this idea out of hand at first, resisting as politely as she can. To pique her interest, Steffan gives Anna his own grandmother’s private journal, which he has had translated into English expressly for his English daughter-in-law and beautifully bound for her. It details Ingrid Harvik’s long and eventful life, beginning in 1878, when she was 16, and newly widowed herself. The many pages of this journal, which Laker interpolates into the story as Anna reads them, make for some of the most gripping passages of this novel.
If you love Rosamund Pilcher's books, such as The Shell Seekers, you will likely enjoy this book very much too! You can read the rest of my review at Northern Lights Reading Project.
July 15, 2024
The subject matter is unusual and fascinating: British women who married members of the Norwegian armed forces during World War II return to their husbands' home country at War's end. Much information is provided about their experiences and that of Norwegians who weren't able to flee the country (invaded early-on by Germans). However, this novel is extremely poorly written, with numerous internal inconsistencies, mediocre characterizations, and too many improbable happenings to be believable.
February 10, 2019
3.5 stars
As a Canadian, I have heard and read about the War Brides. English women who married Canadian Service men during WWII. However, I never thought about English women marrying Service men from other countries, ie: Norwegians, as in this book.
At the end of WWII, Anna, now a widowed war bride, is going to visit her husband's father in Norway. Initially, I found the book too descriptive and filled with “filler” words and side stories. However, the story picked up and I really enjoyed it after her father-in-law gives her a copy of his mother’s journal that he had translated for her. This story is also excellent.
This book gave me a warm feeling and a desire to visit Norway, to see the mountains, the fjords and the country side. It seems like such a beautiful country.
As a Canadian, I have heard and read about the War Brides. English women who married Canadian Service men during WWII. However, I never thought about English women marrying Service men from other countries, ie: Norwegians, as in this book.
At the end of WWII, Anna, now a widowed war bride, is going to visit her husband's father in Norway. Initially, I found the book too descriptive and filled with “filler” words and side stories. However, the story picked up and I really enjoyed it after her father-in-law gives her a copy of his mother’s journal that he had translated for her. This story is also excellent.
This book gave me a warm feeling and a desire to visit Norway, to see the mountains, the fjords and the country side. It seems like such a beautiful country.
March 6, 2012
I loved this book...it was part romance, part mystery, part history lesson.....This is my first book by this author and I am planning on reading all of her others. She took a part of history I knew nothing about and made it come to life without being repetitive and overly descriptive. The way she brought the beauty of the Norwegian countryside to life, without seeming overly dramatic or cliched was a nice touch, too. Her characters had depth and flaws. She handled the widowhood of the main character well and allowed her to work through her grief in her way. Highly recommend this book and if her other books are this good, highly recommend the author.
November 4, 2015
So much great potential but you never got to know the characters!
April 29, 2016
I am a huge fan of historical fiction and I love novels set during WWII. This was the first that I have read that was set in Norway although it was just after WWII. The main character is a widowed war bride going to visit her husband's home town. This book read more as a memoir than as a novel. By saying that I mean that there was not a huge amount of conflict, twists and turns, character development etc. that you would expect from a novel. You do get to learn a lot about Norway and the imagery is wonderful. There is also an interesting subplot of a relative of her husband and how she lived in the house by the fjord that she learns from reading the diary. It would have benefited from starting earlier - when she meets her husband Johan because all we learn is that he is the perfect husband but we know nothing about him. There should have been more character development with the minor characters as well. I know times were different in the 1940s-1950s but the relationship between her and her new husband Alex did not seem realistic either. The last few chapters skipped over about 20 years even though it was not an epilogue which just seemed way too rushed as well.
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October 20, 2011The House by the Fjord, by Rosalind Laker, Narrated by Anne Dover, Produced by Soundings, AKA Isis, downloaded from audible.com.
Anna Harvik is an English girl who married a man in the Norwegian Air Force which flew out of England during WW II because the Nazis were occupying Norway. Anna’s husband died, but in 1946 Anna decides to visit his home country and meet his family. She isn’t sure how she’ll be received, so she stays initially with a friend of hers, Molly, another “war bride” who married a Norwegian and returned with him to Norway. This is a very interesting book mainly because we learn what Norway was like right after the occupation. Through Anna we learn about the famous Norwegian hospitality and about the foods. I come from Norwegian stock so I enjoyed reading about the foods and comparing them with foods familiar in my family. Anna goes to Norway deeply grieving the loss of her husband, but ends up finding love in Norway and acceptance from her former husband’s family. A very nice read.
Anna Harvik is an English girl who married a man in the Norwegian Air Force which flew out of England during WW II because the Nazis were occupying Norway. Anna’s husband died, but in 1946 Anna decides to visit his home country and meet his family. She isn’t sure how she’ll be received, so she stays initially with a friend of hers, Molly, another “war bride” who married a Norwegian and returned with him to Norway. This is a very interesting book mainly because we learn what Norway was like right after the occupation. Through Anna we learn about the famous Norwegian hospitality and about the foods. I come from Norwegian stock so I enjoyed reading about the foods and comparing them with foods familiar in my family. Anna goes to Norway deeply grieving the loss of her husband, but ends up finding love in Norway and acceptance from her former husband’s family. A very nice read.
February 15, 2012
The book opens with war-bride Anna Vartdal ready to visit her late husband's family and beloved country of Norway, ravaged by World War II. It's Midsummer's Eve of 1946, the ship is docking, and Anna will soon join her friend Molly, who had married her late husband's best friend and who also was a pilot for the Royal Air Force of Norway. On that same day Anna is met by the Harvik family lawyer who is rather insistent on Anna accepting the family home and property. Anna tarries in the town of Jessheim with her war-bride friends until Christmas when she finally meets with her father-in-law in the town of Molde.
This work of historical fiction paints beautiful pictures of Norway's fjords, mountains, and valleys and made me eager to visit. It also filled me in on how Norway's stalwart citizens coped with the war and resisted the Nazi regime. A lovely book....
This work of historical fiction paints beautiful pictures of Norway's fjords, mountains, and valleys and made me eager to visit. It also filled me in on how Norway's stalwart citizens coped with the war and resisted the Nazi regime. A lovely book....
March 16, 2012
It was good! I thought that the side story of Ingrid was interesting but took away from the main character's story. I understand the plot drive behind it, but it could have been a book all by itself. It seemed as if the author didn't have enough story and needed a filler.
All in all I did like the book, just wish that I could have gotten to know Anna & Ingrid better. It seemed so good in the beginning and then it just rushed through her life and before I knew it, she was an old woman within 10 pgs.
This was interesting and def. makes me want to go to Norway and the book was a good read...just felt like the last quarter of the book was rushed.
All in all I did like the book, just wish that I could have gotten to know Anna & Ingrid better. It seemed so good in the beginning and then it just rushed through her life and before I knew it, she was an old woman within 10 pgs.
This was interesting and def. makes me want to go to Norway and the book was a good read...just felt like the last quarter of the book was rushed.
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October 22, 2012This started a little slow but now I'm totally entranced. I'm in love with this book.
The book follows the story of a young English woman who had married a Norwegian flyer during World War II. Her husband is killed in the war and she is visiting Norway to meet her father in law and visit with other brides of Norwegian soldiers she had met in the war.
This book is beautifully written with a wonderful cadence. I never wanted to put the book down. I'll definitely look for more Rosalind Laker books.
The book follows the story of a young English woman who had married a Norwegian flyer during World War II. Her husband is killed in the war and she is visiting Norway to meet her father in law and visit with other brides of Norwegian soldiers she had met in the war.
This book is beautifully written with a wonderful cadence. I never wanted to put the book down. I'll definitely look for more Rosalind Laker books.
July 30, 2012
A bit of a surprise after reading a number of this authors books previously....mostly based in the 1500s-1700s....while it was good, the lead character herself did not have the same draw for me as other lead have....the author of the journal that she is reading 'Ingrid' has more of a pull. I love this author but I am glad that this was not my first experience of her writing....otherwise I probably would have missed out of a whole lot of awesome reading!
August 28, 2012
It started off well enough but definitely got clunky and boring at the end. The main character started out pretty interesting then became very one note and as I kept reading through the Ingrid (unnecessary & too long) I was just waiting for the already known conclusion to be reached. I did feel like I learned a lot about Norway which I knew very little and gained a little insight into post-WWII Europe, but otherwise it was a waste of time to read.
May 8, 2018
While this book did not move me like Laker's other two books set in Norway (albeit during WWII, not after), The Fragile Hour and my favourite This Shining Land, it was still a nice read.
November 1, 2011
Not the best I ever read of Rosiland Laker. Seemed to take a long time to read. I did learn some things from her factual history. Got a Jeopardy answer by reading this book! Painting the Scream was by a Norwegian painter! Am sure there are other factoids that are dormant. The descriptions of Norway keep it at the top of my foreign travel list.
August 16, 2011
I thought the plot was very interesting and I enjoyed it overall. However, I think the writing was a bit choppy at times. Some parts didn't flow smoothly.
For some reason, I didn't like the character of Molly. She really didn't do anything to make me dislike her, but I just couldn't connect to her.
For some reason, I didn't like the character of Molly. She really didn't do anything to make me dislike her, but I just couldn't connect to her.
May 15, 2012
An unexpected pleasure! I grabbed it off the library shelf as a last thought and really enjoyed the story set after WWII. It was a different world at a different time and I fell in love with the house and the country Norway. All the relationships have the complexities that we would anticipate, but it was not a case of knowing how it was all going to end from the start. Well worth the read.
January 31, 2018
Very interesting read. Takes place in Norway after the war so you get an insight into that time in history (very rare) and the lives of war brides and war widows during that time. Inset is the journal of a young woman, the owner of a house which a war widow is given by her grieving father-in-law. The end is rushed but still the book was interesting to read.
November 28, 2011
This was an endearing and very educational book for me since I had never read anything about Norway's involvement in WW II. The love story was also very touching.
After reading this book, I want to plan a trip to Norway to actually see this beautiful country.
After reading this book, I want to plan a trip to Norway to actually see this beautiful country.
March 25, 2012
I didn't know anything about Norway in WWII, so I loved all the little details about that. And I thought the family history was interesting, but I just wasn't sold on the way the book/characters ultimately turned out.
July 2, 2015
I liked this light book about a women in Norway. Her new husband dies in the war and she goes to visit his home in Norway and falls in love with the Country and her new life. I'm excited to go see this part of the world.
January 9, 2019
It was okay. I mainly liked learning more about Norway, but I found the story not very well written and predictable. The characters were pretty superficial. Ingrid's story alone would have made a better novel.
October 21, 2011
just okay...
January 19, 2012
This has been my least favorite of her books.
March 15, 2012
If you can make it past the stilted writing in the first third of the book, the story gets a little better.
May 6, 2012
Good book. Lots of info on Norway during the war. I'm not a history buff, but enjoyed reading about this.
May 24, 2012
Not usually what I read...but I liked it and finished it in 1 day
October 31, 2012
This book was such a disappointment compared to her other books. The story was weak, the characters uninspired....really just a boring book.
January 9, 2013
I thought this was a very sweet story. Very nice and a quick read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews