Staff Reviews

Sheldon Horowitz is in his 80’s, bereft over the death of his wife, burdened by guilt over his son’s death in Vietnam, and weighed down by the memories of his service during the Korean War.  Hope of some sort of future comes with the news his adored granddaughter Rhea is pregnant, a new generation to carry on the family. Rhea is sure Sheldon is in the beginning stages of dementia.  Reluctant to leave her grandfather alone in New York City, she persuades him to move to Norway to live with her.  Lars, Rhea’s husband, is kind, solicitous, and willing to share their flat with the curmudgeonly old widower.  Norway is a whole new world for Sheldon; he does not find any common community, there are only about a thousand Jews in the whole country. The placid, easy going Norwegians are a puzzle.  Any hope of a relaxed entry into Norwegian life is shattered when Sheldon gives refuge to their Balkan neighbor and her young son, hiding from a violent man.  Norway is relatively crime free, in general, but in this specific flat things are going to get way out of control leaving behind a dead woman and an octogenarian New York Jew on the lam across an unfamiliar landscape with a traumatized, silent young child. Segrid, the police officer in charge, finds herself matching wits with the surprisingly resourceful Sheldon and the Serbian thug who will surely do him harm in a mad dash across Norway.  I liked these characters, Sheldon and Sigrid, as they each used all of their wiles.