Karin Blom, the narrator of Linn Ullmann's Before You Sleep is neither irresistible like her mother, Anni, nor beautiful like her sister, Julie, but as it turns out, this might be a very good thing. For short, dark, scrappy Karin is the survivor in a family filled with fractured personalities:
If I tried to describe my family, and that's exactly what I'm going to do, you could probably say that Anni drank to forget. I drank to be happy. Father drank just to keep going. Grandma drank to sleep better at night. Aunt Selma drank to be even meaner than she already was.And Julie, Karin informs us, is the only one who drinks sensibly--"unfortunately! It did her no good. She didn't forget, she wasn't happy, she couldn't sleep and she was never mean." Told mainly in flashback, Ullmann's first novel traces the unhappy history of the Blom family--Anni's mother, June, and her sister Selma, whose rivalry over Anni's father caused a permanent rift; Anni's own unsuccessful union with Karin and Julie's father; and Julie's failing marriage to a man she's sure is unfaithful to her. Ullmann takes the reader from Norway to New York and back again as she weaves past into present, gradually creating a fully dimensional portrait of these women and their relationships to men and to each other. If Anni gets by on charm and melodrama, and Julie on her beauty, then Karin relies on a combination of willpower and lies to carry her through. In the end, it seems her strategy is best.
If the emotional tangles and subtle workings of this novel seem reminiscent of an Ingmar Bergman film, Linn Ullmann comes by it honestly. The daughter of Bergman and the actress Liv Ullmann, she has inherited her father's eye for what lies beneath the most placid-seeming surfaces, and her mother's less-is-more delivery. But Ullmann is a talent unto herself, and the novel's rather downbeat themes are nicely buoyed by Karin's slightly sardonic narrative. --Margaret Prior
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
US$ 7.59 shipping from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speedsSeller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Hardback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR002489344
Quantity: 3 available
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Hardback. Condition: Fair. A readable copy of the book which may include some defects such as highlighting and notes. Cover and pages may be creased and show discolouration. Seller Inventory # GOR011602703
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Better World Books Ltd, Dunfermline, United Kingdom
Condition: Very Good. Ships from the UK. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 46407083-20
Quantity: 2 available
Seller: Better World Books Ltd, Dunfermline, United Kingdom
Condition: Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 40866311-20
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Antiquariat BM, Flensburg, Germany
Gebunden. Condition: Gut. Ohne Umschlag, Name auf Deckblatt - ansonsten einwandfrei. Englisch. Seller Inventory # 002034
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Hamelyn, Madrid, M, Spain
Condition: Como nuevo. : Before You Sleep es una novela de Linn Ullmann, traducida del noruego por Tiina Nunnally. La historia abarca tres generaciones en la vida de una familia noruega, moviéndose desde el presente hasta Oslo y el Brooklyn de los años 30. Ullmann cuenta su historia a través de las voces de las excéntricas y formidables mujeres de la familia Blom. La novela explora temas de maternidad, matrimonio, amor e infidelidad, ofreciendo una mirada detallada y sexualmente franca a las relaciones intergeneracionales. EAN: 9780330481199 Tipo: Libros Categoría: Literatura y Ficción Título: Before You Sleep Autor: Linn Ullmann Editorial: Picador Idioma: en Páginas: 304 Formato: tapa dura. Seller Inventory # Happ-2025-02-07-fe148ef6
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Babushka Books & Framers, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. 1st Edition. First edition. Printing number line 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2. Some marks to jacket. Seller Inventory # 008411
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Sainsbury's Books Pty. Ltd., Camberwell, VIC, Australia
8vo, 291pp. A very good paperback copy. Uncorrected Proof Copy. Seller Inventory # 65877
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Mungobooks, Poole, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Included. 1st Edition. 1st edition, 1st printing hardback in unclipped dustjacket. Book and jacket in VG condition with no inscriptions. Not a book club edition, ex library or a remainder. Am happy to supply scans. Seller Inventory # ABE-1708114746170
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Dan Pope Books, West Hartford, CT, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. Viking (New York), 1999. First edition. First printing. Hardbound. SIGNED BY AUTHOR on title page (name only). New, in a new dust jacket. A perfect unread copy, pristine, crisp, flawless. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 2635
Quantity: 1 available