The Ferryman and His Wife - by Frode Grytten (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In the spirit of Amor Towles and George Saunders, the renowned, bestselling Norwegian author Frode Grytten takes readers on a quietly epic journey: ferry driver Nils Vik's last route along the fjord, on what he knows will be his last day alive.

Nils Vik wakes up on November the 18th and knows it will be the day he dies. He follows his morning routine as voices from his past echo in his mind, and looks around the empty house one last time, before stepping onto his beloved boat.

His dog, dead these many years, leaps aboard with him, and then the other dead begin to emerge - from the woods along the fjord, from each of the ferry stops along the route, from his logbook full of memories and quotations and jotted-down notes about the weather conditions. The people from the past accompany him now, prodding him, showing him what he might have missed before, as he waits for his Marta, his late, remarkable wife, to finally join him on the boat again.

Winner of the prestigious Brage Prize, and considered to be Grytten's long-awaited masterpiece, The Ferryman and His Wife is the story of a quiet, yet utterly profound, life told in reverse. Timeless and absorbing, this is a novel about what we take with us - those moments that might seem insignificant as they happen but prove to be the most meaningful, in the end.

Review Quotes

"Tenderly powerful and urgently contemplative, The Ferryman and His Wife is a profound exploration of what gives a life meaning. With remarkable creativity and piercing honesty, Frode Grytten guides us on a vivid and intimate journey through both the ferryman's fjord, and his memories. The story is breathtaking, unforgettable, and threaded with humble insights about the human experience. Upon turning the final page, I held the book to my chest with a shiver of gratitude."
--Sarah Damoff, USA Today-bestselling author of The Bright Years

About the Author

Frode Grytten had his big breakthrough in 1999 with the Brage Prize-winning novel Beehive Song. He is known throughout Norway for his short stories, but has returned to the novel form after over a decade with The Ferryman and His Wife, which was also awarded the Brage Prize, Norway's most important literary award, and his first book to be translated widely around the world. 

Alison McCullough is a Norwegian-to-English translator and writer. Her recent translations include The Widow by Helene Flood, Reptile Memoirs by Silje Ulstein and Lean Your Loneliness Slowly Against Mine by Klara Hveberg, which was longlisted for the PEN Translation Prize 2022. Originally from a small mining community in the north of England, she now lives in Stavanger, Norway.