Mind Pictures by Øystein Bredesen

Bergen, Norway 1938 In his mid-twenties, Edvard Knausen moves from his comfortably unsatisfying life in a rural fishing village in western Norway to the city of Bergen. Having the skills of a shop assistant in the village’s general store, along with a family connection, opens the door for Edvard to work in one of the city’s best menswear shops. Even though the new opportunity is a strike of good fortune, Edvard still struggles with his vexing fear of failure, the guilt of seeming to reject his country roots, and almost ever-present class warfare. And that’s just on the surface of Edvard’s passage to manhood: As he develops his new life, his true passion lies in playing and creating piano music in the midst of a dizzyingly intricate romantic relationship. “Apart from the four songs you know of, I have written another two and started on a third.” Adelaine sipped at her brandy too. She looked at him with a strange expression, half sad and half amused. “Our Mind Pictures is not for mere mortals, Edvard. They are for the gods. Did you know that? Through each other, we touch on something that is greater than ourselves.” This novel’s original Norwegian version, Speilbilder (2006), is listed in The National Library of Norway and with the Arts Council Norway, the chief governmental administrator for the fulfillment of Norwegian cultural policy and completely funded by the Ministry of Culture. The novel is recognized for it’s high level of quality and period accuracy.