Name: Fata cu fragi
ISBN: 9786067791778

Lisa Strømme

Kunstnere og velhavende familier valfarter til den norske badeby Åsgårdstrand i 1893. Den lokale 16-årige pige, Johanne er dybt fascineret af den excentriske Edvard Munch, men alle betragter ham som upassende selskab

Fata cu fragi

Nona G

This book is the perfect example of a unique and interesting subject that fell into the wrong hands. I've been fascinated by Edvard Munch for a while and ran at the opportunity of reading a historical fiction about him (ran is incorrect, though, I've had this book in my bookshelf for a few years, along with other ~200 unread novels, but hey! at least I got to it). 

The novel revolves around Munch's time spent in Asgårdstrand and his summer fling (love story?) with local girl Tullik. It seems to be based on a real story, as recounted by various sources, of the woman's sickly obsession with Munch. There are rumors of a certain Tulla Larsen, who had developed an obsession with Munch and pursued him until he gave in and later had to run to Berlin and Paris in order to escape her. The author also made use of the real Tullik (Regina) Ilhen, but it is unlikely that there was any relationship between the two.

I'm usually bothered by invented facts when the real life of the person is known, and Stromme also changed the timeframe for some of his paintings just to fit her story. On the other hand, the novel deals with a lot of deep emotion and touches on mental illness, Munch himself having been inflicted by inherited anxiety and alcoholism triggered, probably, by his many losses.

From an emotional standpoint, this novel is incredibly rich. It's a roller-coaster, especially towards the ending, which came down strong and tumultuous, only to quiet down in the epilogue (maybe unnecessarily, but I hate epilogues, as a rule). The story is told from the perspective of a teenage girl - Johanna, which gives new layers of depth that might have not been present had the author used another storyteller. It's a very visual, colorful book, paralleling paintings at every step. Even the chapter titles are mostly color names, followed by short passages from Goethe's Theory of Colours.

It made me do research into impressionism, into Munch's work, as well as into Hans Heyerdahl, the author of the actual painting entitled "Strawberry Girl" (in this novel, Johanna). (I have a slight pet peeve about the publisher not using the actual "Strawberry Girl" paining as the cover, choosing, instead, another of Heyerdahl's works.)

However, and here comes my complaint... I hated Stromme's writing style. The pacing is weird, at first being too slow (the first 100 pages barely cover a few days), then picking up but unevenly. Her phrasing seemed immature (yes, I know, it was her debut novel, but...), with a tiring usage of the verb "to be" and unimaginative, clicheic constructions. Too many dialogues, especially the ones involving Munch and Johanne (who is barely 15 and a peasant girl, uneducated, at that) want to appear philosophical, but instead are merely platitudes and unlikely to have happened between a 30 year-old and an uneducated teenager. There are also too many plot-holes for my liking, such as paintings left outside during the storm and miraculously unaffected. As I said, a promising subject picked up by the wrong author. Unfortunately, despite its potential as an immersive, emotionally-packed novel, Stromme nearly killed it for me with her clipped basic writing.

Fata cu fragi

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