It will always be Johannes and Ingeborg. She is the fiery servant girl on the farm that he is set to inherit. But when his father dies, he lets his brother take over and finds a place of his own, a place just for the two of them.
The future seems secure; generations can follow as they always have. But nothing turns out as they envisioned. The farm is forcibly sold, and Ingeborg’s darker sides begin to surface. Johannes must be the one to hold everything together. But why doesn’t the child come? Why does he not have a son?
My Time in These Forests is a powerful, captivating, and richly woven life story. It is a novel about love and belonging, about children and lineage, and about who one becomes when everything has been taken away.
A deep inner tension makes the reader’s time in Gaute Heivoll’s novel My Time in These Woods worth its weight in gold.
Dagbladet
My Time in These Woods is an incredibly rich, often quietly devastating novel. Gaute Heivoll writes gently, and beautifully about Johannes and Ingeborg, two characters whose complicated relationship and whose personalities will prove impossible to forget. I often thought of A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler, both authors write in an extraordinary way about ordinary people, and they share the ability to perfectly capture the atmosphere of the surroundings. I believe this captivating story of love, dedication, disappointment, suffering, and, well, life, could work everywhere and I am very much looking forward to publishing the Dutch edition in 2025.
Peter van der Swaag, Editor The Bezige Bij, The Netherlands
Gripping and extremely powerful.Fædrelandsvennen
Quietly about good and bad days. A rich portrayal of lost dreams and a life that didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to.
Stavanger Aftenblad
This novel is about a full life. Just think of John Williams long-time unrecognized novel Stoner, or Robert Seethaler’s lovely little novel A whole life, where the authors show us the big things in the little life. In my eyes, My time in these forests is Gaute’s best novel to date. The story of Johannes and Ingeborg is told with authority, with an eye for human vulnerability, but also for the wealth of life, that it is impossible not to be gripped by it.
Mattis Øybø, Gaute Heivoll's Editor
An entire lifetime fits between the covers of Gaute Heivoll’s thirteenth novel, a love story that spans more than forty years.
VG
Heivoll writes about childlessness, inheritance and inheritance so that readers can also feel what is at stake.
NRK
In my opinion, this is the highlight of Gaute’s writing so far. So finely crafted and succinct linguistically, so breathtakingly beautiful about an almost impossible love affair, so captivating a story about six decades of rural history.Paul Leer-Salvesen, Author
Chillingly satisfying" about a Pyromaniac.
VG, about Before I burn, winner of the Brage Prize
“The sensation of the autumn? … This one is unbeatable.”
Dagbladet, on Before I burn
Mercilessly exciting and perfectly narrated is this story about fire, Family and the narrow border between insanity and normality.
Dagsavisen, on Before I burn
“There are descriptions to make you gasp, sections of great beauty, descriptions to make you feel unwell and a level of tension which keeps the reader captivated from start to finish. Gaute Heivoll has delivered a monumental novel.”
Fædrelandsvennen, on Before I burn
My Time in These Woods is an incredibly rich, often quietly devastating novel. Gaute Heivoll writes gently, and beautifully about Johannes and Ingeborg, two characters whose complicated relationship and whose personalities will prove impossible to forget. I often thought of A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler, both authors write in an extraordinary way about ordinary people, and they share the ability to perfectly capture the atmosphere of the surroundings. I believe this captivating story of love, dedication, disappointment, suffering, and, well, life, could work everywhere and I am very much looking forward to publishing the Dutch edition in 2025.
Peter van der Swaag, Editor The Bezige Bij, The Netherlands
