Ikke bli borte ebok

The morning is passing as usual in one of London’s finer neighbourhoods, even if yet another autumn storm is rolling in above the city. Vibeke and Torbjørn are getting ready to go to work, and Ella and Leo are on their way to school. The idea was to make a fresh start, especially for their daughter Ella, who was getting bullied back home in Norway. Torbjørn works at the embassy, where a controversial artist is attending a dinner that same evening. Vibeke is a psychologist and researcher into personality disorders, and goes along to the exhibition at lunchtime to see what the controversy is all about.

Then the school calls. Ella didn’t show up. Nobody knows where she has gone. We follow Vibeke’s desperate search for her daughter through a capital city marked by Brexit, the fear of terrorism, and extreme weather. Along the way, questions begin to emerge: Where did it go wrong? How do you let go without losing grip?

In Benedicte Meyer Kroneberg’s new novel, the characters move through the shadows cast by high-level politics to find a way back to each other. Don’t Stay Gone is a novel about love and being the outsider, powerlessness and personal responsibility.

Praise

‘As the rain pours down, the wind howls, trains come to a standstill and the cold takes hold, and over less than the course of single day, traces of the climate crisis, boat refugees, xenophobia, prejudice and terror effortlessly shift this latticework of a text between what is happening here and now and flashbacks to the family’s turbulent life in the past ...The effect of this hunt for a hugely unhappy and vulnerable young girl is not only hectic, dramatic, and pulsating with panic – it’s full of perspective and tenderness, too.’
5 out of 6 stars, Stavanger Aftenblad

‘Kroneberg’s book has a sure and steady momentum. The story is credible and Vibeke’s persistent brooding over what lies in Ella’s best interests is written with clear insight into the burden of responsibility that every parent bears.’
Vårt Land

“Mens regnet høljer, vinden raser, tog stanser og kulden griper om seg, i løpet av et snaut døgn, i klimakrisens, båtflyktningenes, fremmedfryktens, fordommenes og terrorens tegn, veksler denne flettverksteksten uanstrengt mellom det som skjer på nåtidsplanet, og tilbakeblikk på familiens konfliktfylte liv i fortida. … Denne jakten på en uhyre ulykkelig, sårbar ungjente fortoner seg ikke bare hektisk, dramatisk, panisk pulserende. Den er perspektivrik og rørende. (Terningkast fem)”— Steinar Sivertsen, Stavanger Aftenblad“Kronebergs bok har en jevn og trygg driv. Historia er troverdig og Vibekes vedvarende grubling over hva som er til Ellas beste, er skrevet med et godt blikk på den ansvarsbyrden alle foreldre bærer.” — Ulla Svalheim, Vårt land