The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten, translated by Alison McCullough (Serpent’s Tail, £12.99)
On the last day of his life – how does he know? He just does – Norwegian ferryman Nils Vik takes a final boat trip, alone after a lifetime helping others. He remembers those he has ferried, including actor Edward G Robinson; Miss Norway 1966, who was “declared the most beautiful woman in the nation and won a Fiat 850”; and young gay man Jon, who was bullied by his father, then drowned in a car, channelling the Smiths: “What a heavenly way to die … to die by his lover’s side.” That blend of light and dark runs through the novel, but the person Nils really misses is his late wife Marta. He masks his turmoil (“After the storm … there’s no evidence. Only the calm blue surface”), and tries to remember the happy times. He recalls his daughter taking him to see a play. “What did you like about it?” “Everything.” The reader understands.
Woman in the Pillory by Brigitte Reimann, translated by Lucy Jones (Penguin Classics, £10.99)
When a German farm needs extra manpower during the second world war while farmer Heinrich is off fighting for the Third Reich, a Russian prisoner of war, Alexei, is brought in to help. Frieda, Heinrich’s sister, treats him like dirt (“they’re only half-human”), but Heinrich’s young wife, Kathrin, is charmed, and then some. When she sees him showering outside and they make eye contact, “a jolt went through her as if she’d been caught doing something wicked”. The story goes inward and outward at once, showing Kathrin and Alexei’s claustrophobic relationship, and the social pressures of xenophobia and sexism. Women who have affairs are publicly shamed, except for one who is pregnant by an SS officer. “Every woman ought to feel proud,” her husband is told. The story twists and twists again, right up to the perfectly satisfying ending.
