Author(s): Caroline Albertine Minor (translated from Danish by Caroline Waight)

Novel | Humour & Satire | Translated fiction | Denmark

Three orphaned siblings reckon with a complicated inheritance in this novel of ghosts, stalled lives and budding desires - from a rising star on the European literary scene. A complex tale of family mythology and regret, The Lobster's Shell is the story of three orphaned siblings, now in their thirties and forties; their attempts at connection, their failures and frustrations. Over the years their differences have driven them apart, but during five days in April they have to confront their relationship and shared history. Sidsel asks Niels for a service that challenges his chosen loneliness and Ea gets in touch from the United States. Hoping to make contact with their mother, she has visited clairvoyant Bee Wallens. Lately, a nagging question has been haunting her.

Review: Minor's acute, elliptical observations and silky prose are a delight to read, as the misunderstandings, machinations and mysteries of past and present knit together, fall apart, and re-establish themselves in an uneven, bright weave in Caroline Wright's distinctive, unforced translation * The Irish TImes *

Author Biography: Caroline Albertine Minor was nominated for the prestigious Nordic Council Literature Prize for her story collection Blessings, and won the P. O. Enquist Prize 2018 as well as the Danish Fiction Writers' Association Prize, the Michael Strunge Prize 2017 and the Special Award of the Danish Arts Foundation. Her work has featured in Granta magazine and has been nominated for a 2020 O. Henry Award.