The Half Brother

A Novel

Fiction & Literature, Psychological, Family Life, Literary
Cover of the book The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen, Skyhorse Publishing
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Author: Lars Saabye Christensen ISBN: 9781611459821
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing Publication: January 23, 2012
Imprint: Arcade Publishing Language: English
Author: Lars Saabye Christensen
ISBN: 9781611459821
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Publication: January 23, 2012
Imprint: Arcade Publishing
Language: English

A mesmerizing novel of love, trauma, and sibling rivalry: “Marvelously rich . . . steeped in European history and charged by present-day anxieties” (Publishers Weekly).

At the end of World War II, twenty-year-old Vera is brutally raped by an unknown assailant. From that rape is born a boy named Fred, a misfit who later becomes a talented boxer. Vera’s young son, Barnum, forms a special but bizarre relationship with his half brother, fraught with rivalry and dependence as well as love. “I should have been your father,” Fred tells Barnum, “instead of the fool who says he is.”

It is Barnum, who is now a screenwriter with a fondness for lies and alcohol, who narrates his family’s saga. As he shares his family’s history, he chronicles generations of independent women and absent men whom he calls the Night Men. Among them is his father, Arnold, who bequeaths to Barnum his circus name, his small stature, and a con man’s belief in the power of illusion.

This prize-winning novel by one of Norway’s most acclaimed authors is an “enormous, challenging, life-affirming masterpiece” richly deserving of the accolades it has received (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A mesmerizing novel of love, trauma, and sibling rivalry: “Marvelously rich . . . steeped in European history and charged by present-day anxieties” (Publishers Weekly).

At the end of World War II, twenty-year-old Vera is brutally raped by an unknown assailant. From that rape is born a boy named Fred, a misfit who later becomes a talented boxer. Vera’s young son, Barnum, forms a special but bizarre relationship with his half brother, fraught with rivalry and dependence as well as love. “I should have been your father,” Fred tells Barnum, “instead of the fool who says he is.”

It is Barnum, who is now a screenwriter with a fondness for lies and alcohol, who narrates his family’s saga. As he shares his family’s history, he chronicles generations of independent women and absent men whom he calls the Night Men. Among them is his father, Arnold, who bequeaths to Barnum his circus name, his small stature, and a con man’s belief in the power of illusion.

This prize-winning novel by one of Norway’s most acclaimed authors is an “enormous, challenging, life-affirming masterpiece” richly deserving of the accolades it has received (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

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