The Helios Disaster

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN TRANSLATED LITERATURE "Knausgård is an impressive writer" — Publishers Weekly "Knausgård's writing is crystalline and careful" — Kirkus Reviews "Boström Knausgård's careful exploration of mental illness is restrained and entirely unsentimental. (...) Her prose is unobtrusive in its simplicity and minimalism. The result is both powerful and lyrical." — Words Without Borders This modern spin on the myth of Athena plunges us deep inside the mind of an unlikely twelve-year-old goddess confined to a small Swedish town. Separated from her father just moments after bursting from his skull in full armor, Anna is packed off into foster care where she learns to ski, speaks in tongues, and negotiates the needs of a quirky cast of relatives. Unable to overcome her father's absence, however, she finally succumbs to depression and is institutionalized. Anna's rallying war cry rings out across the pages of this concise and piercing novel as a passionate appeal for belonging taken to its emotional extreme. The Helios Disaster is a contemporary mythical tale in which a father gives birth to a twelve-year-old girl, splitting his head open in the process. Father and daughter are separated. The girl is placed into foster care and comes under the spell of the Pentecostal movement. When she starts speaking in tongues, she's admitted to a psychiatric ward. All the time, she longs to meet her father and eventually they run away together. The author's passionate involvement with her protagonist illuminates what it is like to slide irresistibly away from reality This Powerful Portrait Of Mental Illness And Modern Spin On The Myth Of Athena Portrays The Mind Of A Girl In Foster Care Confined To A Small Swedish Town.