I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: .

[READ: February 21, 2025] One the Calculation of Volume I

I received this book as part of New Directions “membership” where they sent me a new book each month for a year.  I had never heard of Solvej Balle, who is a Danish author.  This might be her first book translated into English.  Barbara Haveland did the translation.  I was certain I had read something else she had translated, but I guess not.  Her phrasing is excellent and made this book an easy, enjoyable read.

This book is part of a seven-volume set (this book was only 161 pages) and given the scope of this volume, I’m unclear what might happen in the others–maybe they’re entirely unrelated?  Turns out that Book 2 is already out, although 3 and 4 are coming out in the fall of next year.  And I just checked, book 2 continues the story.

And the story is this.

Tara Selter went to a conference on November 18th.  She went to bed and when she woke up, it was November 18th again.

Yup, it’s Groundhog Day, the movie.  But it’s not that at all, because Tara does not find it funny.  Also, and I don’t think this is a spoiler, she does not try to kill herself (like in the movie) only to find that she comes back.

The book starts on day #121 of her repeated November 18ths.

She returned from the conference and her husband wondered why she was back so soon.  She explained everything and (fortunately for the book) he believes her.  They go through the whole day, wondering what happened and what to do about it.  And when she woke up the next day, the world had reset to November 18th, but she continued.  I really appreciated the way Tara had a burn on her hand and we see it heal as the days move on.

Some things in the world seem to reset as well–but not all of them.  Some things that she buys at the store return to the store, others do not.  She can’t figure things out.  Luckily for her, her bank account keeps resetting every day.

She spend the first many days waking up next to her husband and having to explain everything all over again.  Because he doesn’t change, he accepts the story and believes everything she says, but he has no progress in her life.  So she is getting older than he is and the days they have spent apart continues to grow.

Eventually she decided it would be easier if she moved into their guest room.  Since she wasn’t supposed to be home, and she probably wouldn’t have talked to her husband that day anyway, he doesn’t expect anything is weird.    She begins to learn his daily pattern and starts basing her day around his so as not to encounter him.

Then she starts keeping an (almost) daily journal (which is the book).  Nothing specifically happens–it’s not a plot-driven story.  It’s a meditative story as she wonders what happened, why it happened, and how to make it stop.

She continues to see little things that might indicate that something is different–are the clouds different this time?

As she approaches the one-year anniversary [ONE YEAR?!] of the event, she wonders if she can replicate the events of that day in a way to undo what happened.

This was an existential novel that felt very down to earth.  It was tense and thought-provoking.

And I’m really curious about what will happen in volume 2.