The Cat Children
On the surface it might look as if they are just like any other family. But the truth is, their entire world has fallen apart.
Emma Nordander’s debut is set in southern Sweden, with the three siblings, Amos, Dalia and little Ella, as the main characters. Amos visits his younger sister Dalia in the hospital. Her room is the same one in which their mother died from cancer a year earlier. Dalia has tried to kill herself.
When they return home everything that happened since their mother died is revealed. Overwhelmed by grief their father left the children to fend for themselves. The only thing he left behind is a note saying that he has gone to Denmark.
The children must now survive on their own. Amos works at the factory and Dalia takes care of eighteen-month-old Ella. They make up their own family, with all that this entails. But it comes at a great price. Dalia has to give
up going to school and Amos has to work hard to make the money last.
The question is, how long will it take before people around them start noticing what’s going on, and wether their father will ever return? If he does, could they or should they forgive him? And can they ever be a regular family again – a family that can stay together and grieve at the same time.
Emma Nordlander (b. 1986) grew up in Småland and now lives in Gothenburg. She made her debut with the critically acclaimed The Cat Children (2013). Burn the Land is her second novel.
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About the book
On the surface it might look as if they are just like any other family. But the truth is, their entire world has fallen apart.
Emma Nordander’s debut is set in southern Sweden, with the three siblings, Amos, Dalia and little Ella, as the main characters. Amos visits his younger sister Dalia in the hospital. Her room is the same one in which their mother died from cancer a year earlier. Dalia has tried to kill herself.
When they return home everything that happened since their mother died is revealed. Overwhelmed by grief their father left the children to fend for themselves. The only thing he left behind is a note saying that he has gone to Denmark.
The children must now survive on their own. Amos works at the factory and Dalia takes care of eighteen-month-old Ella. They make up their own family, with all that this entails. But it comes at a great price. Dalia has to give
up going to school and Amos has to work hard to make the money last.
The question is, how long will it take before people around them start noticing what’s going on, and wether their father will ever return? If he does, could they or should they forgive him? And can they ever be a regular family again – a family that can stay together and grieve at the same time.
