By Laura Djupvik andØyvind Torseter
Translated from Norwegian by Martin Aitken
Published by Elsewhere Editions
Mom's Review
My Brother is an exceptional book revealing one family's handling of grief. It resonated deeply with me, but I do find it hard to review - to put into words exactly what I'm feeling as I read.
Here's an overview of the plot: Our main character's brother died, and the father and main character are deep at the bottom of the grief well. They go fishing - at the child's urging - and reel in a heavy catch. They haul the (previously deceased) brother out of the water (it's not morbid), after which he rejoins them for one final day together. It is not a completely regular day, but they soak up each other's presence until the bereaved feel more complete and the brother slowly fades out in a fluttering cloud of butterflies.
Like I already said, I am finding it hard to put into words exactly why this book resonated with me so deeply. I think that's because grief over the loss of a sibling is such an amorphous emotion that is hard to describe and put into a box itself. I regularly have dreams that my brother is still alive and we are having an average day or experience - kind of like the family has in the book. When I wake up, I feel a mix of emotions. Again, kind of like the family feels in the book. Sad because the loss feels new again even thought it isn't, but also a sense of peace or closure, like I had a final goodbye. And that is I think why this book touched me so strongly, because that is what the boy and his father experience when the brother returns to them for the day. A chance to be together and take leave of one another, a chance to cherish the idea of the interaction, regardless of how it came to be. The conclusion, where they hold the brother in their hearts and value their memories, is comforting.
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