The Summer Of Ellen

(Paperback)

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Description

Agnete Friis's lyrical, evocative work of psychological suspense weaves together two periods in one man's life to explore obsession, toxic masculinity, and the tricks we play on our own memory. Jacob, a middle-aged architect living in Copenhagen, is in the alcohol-soaked throes of a bitter divorce when he receives an unexpected call from his great-uncle Anton. In his nineties and still living with his brother on their rural Jutland farm-a place Jacob hasn't visited since the summer of 1978-Anton remains haunted by a single question- What happened to Ellen To find out, Jacob must return to the farm and confront what took place that summer-one defined by his teenage obsession with Ellen, a beautiful young hippie from the local commune, and the unsolved disappearance of a local girl. In revisiting old friends and rivals, Jacob discovers the tragedies that have haunted him for over forty years were not what they seemed.

Reviews

A CrimeReads Most Anticipated Crime & Mystery Novel of 2019

Praise for The Summer of Ellen

This is a beautifully written book, descriptive, atmospheric and carefully woven . . . Alfred Hitchcock once said that a thriller is a whodunit, an intellectual process, but suspense is an emotional one. Friis knows thisand slowly, slowly takes us by the hand and draws us into a seductive, and dangerous, summer.
NPR

Absorbing . . . Ms. Friis holds us spellbound, watching in grim fascination.
The Wall Street Journal

An atmospheric psychological journey.
Mystery Scene Magazine

A character study wrapped around a novel of suspense, with every blade of grass, every whispering tree, beautifully painting a picture of both longing and desolation.
Bustle

Friis offers up a spellbinding mystery totally in step the growing dialog about toxic masculinity and the price we all pay for indulging it . . .Its a deep dive into dark places.
Barnes & Noble

Set against the lush Danish farmland of the70s, a hippie commune, and modern-day Copenhagen,The Summer of Ellenis a richly drawn, uncompromising tale about Jacobs desperate journey grappling with a forty-year-old mystery from his toxic adolescence. I couldnt put it down.
Cara Black,New York Timesbestselling author of the Aime Leduc mysteries

Agnete Friis knows every buzzing insect, every scratchy hayseed on the Jutland farm of her troubled protagonist, Jacob.The Summer of Ellenis unmissablea brilliant exploration of faulty memory and the lasting effects of adolescent trauma.
Lene Kaaberbl,New York Timesbestselling co-author of the Nina Borg thrillers

This branch of Nordic noir could be called Danish desolate; the settings, in contemporary Copenhagen and on a Jutlandfarm in 1978, mirror the psychological landscape by focusing on the bleak and challenging . . . Brilliant.
Booklist, Starred Review

Modern Copenhagen, Danish farmland in the 70s, and a hippy commune:The Summer of Ellenhas all the ingredients for a gripping, literary noir.
CrimeReads

Friis, coauthor with Lene Kaaberbl of the Nina Borg mysteries, excels in her second solo novel (afterWhat My Body Remembers). Readers of Nordic noir literature will appreciate the setting, social critique, and the classic whodunit story. Fans of Henning Mankells Wallander series will enjoy the excellent character development with twists and turns throughout.
Library Journal

Very strong . . .The Summer of Ellenreminded me of an international version of Nancy PickardsThe Scent of Rain and Lightning.
BOLO Books

Not everything in The Summer of Ellen by Agnete Friis, translated by Sinad Quirke Kngerskov, is as it appears when memories of intense adolescence are buried deep down and forgotten . . . Friis does a brilliant job in the tense narration, evoking bygone times and conflicting lifestyles, clashes between communal living and the ordinary farming community . . . This is a book thats definitely worth reading.
Crime Review (UK)

Praise for Agnete Friis

In this sensitive character study, Agnete Friis, who writes the Nina Borg mysteries with Lene Kaaberbl, dares us to confront bad mothers and other outcasts.
TheNew York TimesBook Review

The first solo novel by Friis . . . measures up to the best-selling Nordic noir novelThe Boy in the Suitcase. Ella Nygaard, 27, is a flawed, memorable character.
The BBC,Between the Lines

Breathtaking.
Toronto Star

Aclassic whodunit with a great up-to-date character and twist . . .An excellent character study of a woman in extreme crisis.
The Globe and Mail

[A] must-read . . . Half of the duo who co-wrotethe socially conscious Nina Borg series, Friis brings that same liberal political slant to this new thriller about love and violence in families.
LitHub

The skillfully calibrated atmospheric tension and Ellas realistically awkward struggle toward redemption will appeal to fans of literary suspense like that of Jennifer McMahon and Karin Fossum.
Booklist, Starred Review

Author Bio

Agnete Friis has co-authored four novels in the award-winning New York Times bestselling Nina Borg series- The Boy in the Suitcase, Invisible Murder, Death of a Nightingale, and The Considerate Killer. She lives in Copenhagen. What My Body Remembers was her solo debut. Sinead Quirke K ngerskov is a Danish to English translator whose previous projects include Susanne Clod Pedersen's Arnulf- A Viking Saga, Marie Tourell S derberg's Hygge- The Danish Art of Happiness, Katja Berger's The Reaper of Souls, and Anette Sams's The Truth about Sugar. She is also SmokeLong Quarterly magazine's guest editor for Danish.