Shame

Idun Hov could have led a normal life. She is no less intelligent than her successful twin sister, Kathrine -- a psychiatrist and documentary filmmaker -- but a succession of traumatic childhood experiences condemn Idun to a life spent mostly in a mental hospital (at her sister's instigation). There she begins to write. The trials of her own life and of Norway itself enter her writing: her experiences fuse with the German occupation of her country, the shame of collaboration, and the moral and spiritual upheavals of a small nation -- and of a sister -- betrayed. This is a luminous novel, written with the finest psychological insight and a streak of devastating black comedy.

Shame was the winner of the prestigious Norwegian Critics' Award in 1997.