#BookReview – The Bird Tribunal by Agnes Ravatn #Orentober @OrendaBooks

Hello today I’m joining in with Kelly and Danielle’s #Orentober, a celebration of the publisher Orenda. I read this, my first Orenda book courtesy of TripFiction back in May 2017 and what a read it was! If claustrophobic psychological thrillers are your thing this is definitely one for you. 😱😱😱

 

From Goodreads: “TV presenter Allis Hagtorn leaves her partner and her job to take voluntary exile in remote house on an isolated fjord. But her new job as housekeeper and gardener is not all that it seems, and her silent, surly employer, 44-year-old Sigurd Bagge, is not the old man she expected. As they await the return of his wife from her travels, their silent, uneasy encounters develop into a chilling, obsessive relationship, and it becomes clear that atonement for past sins may not be enough. Haunting, consuming and powerful, The Bird Tribunal is a taut, exquisitely written psychological thriller that builds to a shocking, dramatic crescendo that will leave you breathless.”

My Review

Allis a former television presenter finds herself as a housekeeper for Bagge, a moody secretive man living in a forest near a fjord. He tells her his wife will be away for sometime and he needs her to took after the garden and house for him. Allis has her own shameful secrets that weigh her down as she gets to grips with her new position, home and employer.

So begins this incredibly tense thriller set in Norway and the tension does not let up at all. This is a beautifully written and translated book that hooked me from the first page. I was desperate to know the secrets that Bagge was keeping from Allis. Where was his wife? Why was he so moody? Why did he only speak in mono syllables when he did speak?

The setting of the house in a forest on the edge of the fjord is perfect and becomes another character in this moody atmospheric story.

It’s only a short book and so I thought I would whizz through it, but I had to take a breather every now and then as the tension was just too much. Perfect for lovers of psychological thrillers.