Title: Paradise Rot

Series: N/A

Author: Jenny Hval

Translator: Marjam Idriss

Genres: Literary, Magical Realism, Surrealism

Publishing Date: 2 October 2018

Original Language: Norwegian

Pages: ~ 160

CW: Excrement, Body horror, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Cannibalism

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Read if you’re looking for: 

• Weird literary fiction translated from Norwegian
• Ethereal girl love
• Allusions to the original sin of being a woman
• Beautiful descriptions of decay & natural processes
• Writing that gives you that uncanny, underwater feeling
• Lots of pee talk

This is a surreal novel written by the Norwegian singer and songwriter, Jenny Hval. It turned out to be another “I don’t know what I read, but I loved it” situation, which seems to be what I have been loving lately. This book is difficult to describe or categorize. In this short novel, a young Norwegian woman, Jo, moves to England for school, and sets out to find an apartment to rent. She moves into a strange, converted brewery with an intriguing woman, Carral, and nature begins to take over the building, and their bodies. The two women get closer, and begin an obsessive and consuming relationship.

I found the imagery in this book so beautiful, conveying the cycle of birth and rebirth. As the title implies, there is much descriptive imagery of rot and decay, and fungus and plant life growing out of it. The “paradise” in the title refers to the biblical paradise. There were strong allusions to the garden of eden, Eve with the serpent, and the danger and monstrosity of being a woman. I highly recommend this for lovers of weird literary fiction, gorgeous imagery, and uncanny vibes.