Elizabeth Wessel
autor
The Eighth House
In the archives of the national library, a researcher named Linda sees a nine year-old girl's face in the pages of a yellowed newspaper, and the seed of an obsession is planted in her mind.
Birgitta Sivander was brutally murdered one night in May 1948. The culprit was never found. Linda feels a deep connection to Birgitta, and in the months that follow she compulsively researches the case.
Meanwhile, a life is taking root inside Linda; she is to have a daughter of her own. As she grapples with the wonder and anxiety of motherhood, she gradually pieces together Birgitta's story, closing in on the possible killer.
Driven to redeem a lost child, Linda must find a way to lay Birgitta to rest. Moving and unputdownable, The Eighth House is a shattering examination of why cycles of violence persist, and an invocation of the hope that new life brings.
What We Owe
Finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in fiction
Tehran, 1978: Nahid and Masood, both eighteen, are young lovers and young revolutionaries, determined to overthrow the Shah's regime and help to bring about democracy. Their clandestine activities are dangerous, but with youth, passion and right on their side, they feel invincible. Then one night, Nahid allows her younger sister to come along to a huge demonstration. Violence breaks out. Nahid lets go of her sister's hand. Everything changes.
As the revolution sours, and the loss becomes too much to bear, Nahid and Masood are forced to flee to Sweden, on borrowed money with forged passports. Tehran is no longer safe for them, and now they are expecting a baby; they need to get out before they lose everything.
Thirty years later, Nahid lies in a hospital bed replaying her life, raging at her carers, at her recent cancer diagnosis, at Masood, at her - now pregnant - daughter, and at her exile among people who while purporting to understand know nothing of what she has been through. Told with startling honesty, dark wit and an irresistible momentum, What We Owe is a novel of love, guilt and dreams for a better future, vibrating with both sorrow and an unquenchable joie de vivre.
The Eighth House
The haunting story of a mother's search for a killer.
I imagine myself as a nine year-old. A bell tolls inside me for her. It's a Friday, a warm day in May. She's gone to pick flowers. She lies in the grass with her face in the sun. She can hear the long whistle of a train echo across the fields. She's biked three miles from home, even though she's not supposed to go so far. She is going to die soon
In the archives of the national library, a young researcher named Linda sees a nine year-old girl's face in the pages of a yellowed newspaper, and the seed of an obsession is planted in her mind.
Birgitta Sivander was brutally murdered on a warm May night in 1948. The murderer was never found. Linda feels a deep connection to Birgitta, and in the months that follow she compulsively researches the case.
All the while, a life is taking root inside Linda; she is to have a daughter of her own. As she grapples with the terror and wonder of motherhood, she gradually pieces together Birgitta's story, closing in on the possible killer.
Driven to avenge the life of a lost child, ultimately Linda must find a way to lay to rest the violence of the past. Haunting and unputdownable, The Eighth House asks what it means to take a life, and to bring one into being.
