As strange, unsettling and memorable as The Ice Palace and The Birds this remarkable novel conveys the compassion and lyrical genius for which Vesaas was three-times nominated for the Nobel Prize.

The Bridges describes the changing relationships between three adolescents – an unmarried mother who has drowned her newborn child and the girl and boy who befriend her. Somehow they must bridge their individual responses to the tragedy and find a common language for their grief, so that they can move on with their lives.

‘Brilliant concentration of style and feeling . . . An important writer’ — The Times

‘This novel's classically spare story with its intaglio of powerfully evocative symbols is sufficient to establish its author as a writer of rare imaginative vitality and perception.’ — New York Times

‘A writer of considerable sensibility. The Bridges has moments of real beauty.’ — Irish Times

Translated from the Norwegian by Elizabeth Rokkan

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TARJEI VESAAS was born in 1897 in the remote rural Telemark district of Norway, where he grew up and spent most of his life. His first book appeared in 1923, and he subsequently published several novels, volumes of poetry and short stories. His novel The Ice Palace was awarded the Nordic Council Literature Prize, the most important Scandinavian literary award. He was three times a Nobel Prize candidate. His work has been published in many countries. He died in 1970.