The Cold Song by Linn Ullmann

The Cold Song Reviews

• 
  Diane S ☔

  3.5 There is something that really captured my interest in this story and I am not quite sure what that was. The prose is unsentimental, almost detached and the characters were all multi-layered and complex. There was as much going on under the surface as there was in the face they presented to each other and in their relations with other people. There was a great deal of simmering tension and palpable unease.
  
  The setting is Siri's childhood home, a seaside town a few hours south of Oslo. The house where her mother still resides. This is a novel about people trying to find their place within a family, about the cost of infidelity, resentment and guilt. All try to present a façade of normalcy and capableness except for the young daughter Alma and her grandmother. They act the way they want and refuse to cater to the standards others expect of them.
  
  It is about a nineteen year old girl named Milla, who comes to take care of the children and subsequently disappears. The discovery about what actually happened to her, will being matters to a head and compel the family to take a harsh look at themselves and their relationships.
  
  Arc from Netfalley
  L
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Holly

  Mystery and threat and gothic, haunting imagery mixed with quotidian life in a slightly foreign/slightly familiar environment. A momentum that had me racing through the story and yet I didn't read it as fast as I might have: several times I put the book down to let things reverberate (it was too good to rush through).
  
  Complex characters with shadows and faults and also goodness. Ullmann could draw a minor character that was true and complex with only a scene or a paragraph (by revealing an action or a motive). The story's central characters contradict themselves in a very true-to-life way, acting both in accord with and against their needs.
  
  Absolutely wrenching depictions of familial strife, marital jealousy and frustration, career panic, and anomie.
  
  Rotating points of view and time switches - sometimes the same scene from multiple characters' eyes (including a dog named Leopold who likes to eat organ meats haha). I think only one character - Jon - is technically first person, at least part of the time (why this choice?), but the rotating third person is as close and intimate as it could be.
  
  Even when the the language was not particularly complex what the ideas pointed to was often complex and loaded - melancholy and true.
  
  Unanswered questions that remain unanswered. But I wasn't left frustrated; just pensive.
• 
  Tamsen

  Why do we read? Why do I read? It's a question I ask myself over and over again while reading. What makes a book the end-all, be-all for me?
  
  Sometimes my sister and I have a conversation where we bond intensely over things. She says a line that rings so true with me (and why would it not? We have a similar history, the same nature vs. nurture, a background that couldn't help but ring truths in our present) -- regardless, she will say a truth to me that feels right to my bones. It bonds us, this truth.
  
  Characters sometimes speak this truth to me too - their words or actions in a book will ring true to me - a feeling that says - yes, this is how I would have reacted or spoke or responded. These may be the books that are automatic 5 stars for me - because can we help ourselves? We get that bond - reciprocated through a sibling or a book -- it's all the same. We recognize ourselves in others and we say yes. This is me. This is how I feel.
  
  I have a statement on my Goodreads that I try to live by though - I like fantastic characters. This to me means characters who are so fully developed, that they commit to an action or line of reasoning, and you say yes. This is how they were supposed to act. You know them so well as a reader -- how else could they react? I guess what I mean is that they are fully fleshed like people. Characters, people (they should all be synonymous) - they surprise you, but their choices shouldn't ever truly shock you.
  
  In this novel, Siri is a bit hard to understand, sometimes, for me. She is so angry that she lashes out at everyone - her children, her babysitter, her husband. That last one is extremely understandable - it's only confusing that her husband doesn't receive more of a beat down. Milla is a bit hard to pin down - is she supposed to be? Am I, as a reader, supposed to think that this is only because she was never fully developed as a human/character? Since she didn't live long enough? And Alma. Explain that one to me. She's odd but not completely a loner. She's easily influenced and yet stubborn about so many things.
  
  I liked this, a lot. Sometimes books are about timing (I read a really shitty book before this, so good writing is always appreciated.), but they need to transcend just good writing for me. I enjoyed this, and will think about it more - but will think about it more on this whole the-characters-ultimately-failed-me level.
  
  I keep thinking, and processing, as I read - each of these books - especially these three or four star books, continue to layer me as a reader. I learn more about myself as I read these 'almost books' (almost 5 star). A book that is an 'almost' for me, doesn't mean it should be knocked from your reading list, my GR friends - I maybe ask too much of the almost books. I know it sounds pretentious - but reading is who I am. It's how I define myself (or continue to define myself or learn about myself). It makes me ask these questions that I think otherwise would have been numbed by work or television or liquor. I love reading for this, and I love this book for pushing me to ask these questions. This one just didn't do it for me completely.
• 
  Chas Smash

  Me gusta como escribe pero la historia en sí no ha llegado a captar mi interés. Podría haber metido veinte páginas más y tener al menos un final decente y tampoco...
  2/5
• 
  Carolyn Stevens Shank

  A fantastic read! I was absolutely mesmerized by Linn Ullmann's thriller about a dysfunctional family and how they each react to the murder of 19-year old Milla, a summer nanny for Jon Dreyer and his wife, Siri. This novel delves deeply into the marriage and the painful betrayals (on the part of Jon, a writer in the throes of writer's block:) the relationships of Siri to her aging mother, Jenny Brodal, and the effects of the accidental drowning of her four-year old brother, whom she had been instructed to watch over when Siri was six. She further depicts the confusion and anger of the children, caught up in the chaos of modern living. I have been literally transfixed by Ullmann's rich characterization. The book is translated from the Norweigan, and has received rave reviews internationally. I highly recommend!
• 
  Amanda

  I just finished The Cold Song and I really don’t know what to say about it. This book was intense and it made me feel tense while reading it. From the goodreads description we know that Milla the nanny disappears and is killed, but I was expecting the plot to lead up that happening. This is not the case, Milla’s death happens very early in the book and we even learn who the accused right away, but then we begin to flash back and forth in time. This book is definitely not a mystery, but a story of a family that was ruptured before Milla’s disappearance and then tries to move forward after.
  
  There were things about each of the characters that honestly made me shake my head and say WTF to myself throughout. For example:
  
  “Alma whispered so that nobody would hear her: ‘So Milla, what do you do when you go out at night? Do you meet people you know? Other kids your age? Do boys come and see you here at Mailund after everyone’s asleep? Do you fuck them, one after the other?’
  
  Alma, is I think age 11 at this point; so I ask you- WTF? There are things like the above that seemed to be to be red flags about each character that aren’t delved into which was frustrating for me. Why does she act like that? Why is Jenny Brodal drinking after 25 years? Why is Irma so odd? I suppose if each character was studied in depth the book would be so long it would be unreadable, but I still wanted a bit more more.
  
  I felt sad for this family because I think they were trying to be happy, despite their actions toward each other. I was hopeful at the end that they were going to reinvent themselves going forward.
  
  4 Stars
  
  Thank you NetGalley and Other Press for this advanced read copy for review.
  
  
  http://wp.me/p43ecs-96
• 
  Julie

  This is a very odd book. It's not really a murder mystery, although there is a murder, and there is a hunt for a body. From almost the beginning, the whodunnit question has already been answered. The rest of the book is devoted to the circumstances surrounding the event and is told (again and again) from the perspectives of various characters in the book. It hops around in the timeline and at times was a bit confusing. Sadly, I found most of the characters to be rather unlikeable and unsympathetic and when I finished the book I was just left with a feeling of "....huh. Well that's over."
• 
  Stacey D.

  This novel wins first prize for the lamest book ending, to me, this year.
  
  Parts of the story were very insightful, especially the parts about the disturbing reality of young girls and the woes of a dysfunctional marriage. But much of the prose was just okay. Maybe it was simply due to a flawed translation.
  
  This is a psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, with lots of juicy details. There's a murder, a wacky marriage of two troubled souls, a hellion of a daughter, a depressed but quite smart dog and a despicable old lady and her evil caretaker. And, even more secondary details, too! All great elements to make for a great story, right? Yes, that was the case all the way til the final page, when I realized that almost none of these issues gets resolved.
  
  Also, I had no idea what the title meant. I'll try to google it. Maybe that will be a key to one of the plot lines.
• 
  Kari

  Easy to read inspite of its sad and gloomy story about not beeing able to talk about the difficult things and therefore lying to cover yourself and avoid the hard stuff.
• 
  Bettie

  
  
  
  Bettie's Books
• 
  Noémie Courtois

  Je ne comprends pas ce qui m’a tant attaché à cette histoire, peut-être une sorte de curiosité morbide, mais je DEVAIS savoir ce qui allait se produire. Au final, pas grand chose, ce n’est pas un roman débordant de rebondissements mais plutôt construit sur le fait qu’il pourrait y avoir... on est toujours dans l’attente de quelque chose qui ne vient pas. Cette chose qui ne vient pas se reflète à plusieurs niveau dans l’histoire, comme plusieurs niveaux de mise en abime, et c’est probablement pourquoi on fini le roman en se demandant « mais pourquoi j’ai lu un truc pareil si au final on arrive à rien? »
  
  C’est vraiment une drôle de lecture, mais une bonne lecture. Je pense...🤔
• 
  Judith

  He leído reseñas no muy positivas que digamos de esta historia. Pero bueno, cada lector es diferente, a mi realmente me atrapó, si bien tuvo un comienzo bastante lento y algo pesado que me costo enganchar, logre tomar el ritmo. Lo mas curioso es que desde el inicio sabemos quien mató a la joven que desapareció, lo que la novela nos plantea son sus momentos antes, todo lo que ocurrió antes del terrible desenlace. Pero seguimos con lo curioso ya que esta joven, Millie, no es nuestra protagonista principal, no, ella es un personaje secundario que se suma a la vida de una familia un tanto complicada. Esta familia es la que nos ocupará en toda la novela, cada uno de ellos, su pasado, su presente, sus miserias, secretos, tristezas y añoranzas. Una familia bastante complicada.
  La narración puede resultar lenta, pesada y hasta decepcionante lo amito, pero eso no hizo que quisiera dejar de leerla, al contrario, quería saber más de la rutina aburrida y densa de esta familia. La tensión entre ellos se respira y resulta agobiante la mayoría de los momentos, la tristeza de unos, la conformidad de otros, los gritos mudos de buscar un cambio que no encuentra salida. Puede que mas de uno le encuentre capítulos de relleno que se podían ahorrar o ahondar en ciertos puntos que quizás valían mas la pena profundizar. En mi caso me fueron atrapando los personajes, su vida, su pasado, todo me resulto interesante porque en si ellos son a mi parecer lo mas interesante de la historia. Tenemos una muerte, no lo olvido, pero es solo el hilo conductor a esta familia, la excusa para entrar en sus vidas tan secas y agotadas.
  
  Mi reseña original :
  https://zonaexentrica.blogspot.com.uy...
• 
  Elena Petrova

  Дисекция на живота на едни тъжни изгубени хора, и пак не съвсем без надежда, направена около силно криминално събитие, което хем не им повлиява, хем бележи някакъв предел в живота им. Все пак може би накрая се намират. Или поне така ми се иска да вярвам, защото видях и себе си някъде там, в тъмното.
• 
  Cherise Wolas

  A vicious crime is at the center of this novel, but it's not a crime story. Indeed, we learn who is killed in the first chapter, and the book isn't about evidence and villains. Set in an unnamed seaside town a few hours south of Oslo, Siri Brodal returns each summer to her childhood home, with her husband and two daughters, a house that has been in the family for generations, and where her mother, Jenny Brodal lives with a companion named Irma, a tall woman Jenny seems to have saved from something horrible. The novel is about culpability and the characters are haunted by infidelity, resentment, financial issues, writer's block, a childhood death, and their own lapses and shortcomings, the loss really of innocence. Siri, a successful chef, might have stood by when she was 6 while her younger brother drowned. Jon, her husband, has had great success with the first two books in his trilogy, but has been unable to write a word though he spends his days up in the attic of the seaside home or their home in Oslo, has affairs, though he loves his wife and children. Alma is their elder daughter, a compulsive truth teller with wild thoughts and anger who doesn't conform to accepted standards of behavior. Milla is the young nanny they've hired for the summer who courts her own kind of danger, a girl Siri wishes she hadn't hired, a girl who catches Jon's eye. And Jenny Brodal, whose 75th birthday party provides the backdrop for Milla's disappearance, is a tough woman, left years ago by her husband, and though she's been sober for many years, on the night of the birthday party she doesn't want, decides that she always said one day at a time, but not never. The story moves backward and forward and time, the prose is lean and often radiant.
• 
  Tami

  A bit of mystery, a bit of family dynamics, a bit of characters who don’t want to admit who they are, are melded together into this story of a family coming to grips with the loss of their nanny, and not wanting to recognize what really happened. Translated from Norwegian with an interesting style of writing, jumping back and forth from present to past.
• 
  Lauren

  Well a rather disturbing story ,the group foto of the characters looks so warm and loving but up close it is alarming and unbalanced and full of lies and uneasiness.left me feeling nervy and sad. but that said i kept reading because it is a mystery but much is left unsaid brrrrrrrrr
• 
  Jamie

  Linn Ullmann’s writing is spare and to the point. The family in this novel is struggling with work, parenting, and with an aging parent. They bring Milla into their lives one summer to care for the children but her disappearance accentuates all of their troubles.
• 
  Myriam

  Linn Ullmann draagt de naam van haar moeder (Liv) en de genen van haar vader (Bergman) sluipen binnen in dit verhaal van een disfunctionele (zijn er andere?) familie, ontregelde relaties, wanhopig zoekende mensen die voortdurend ingehaald worden door hun eigen onmacht. Scènes uit een huwelijksleven… maar ook Persona komt even in herinnering (de dementerende Jenny die verzorgd wordt door de ietwat vreemde Irma die haar volledig van de buitenwereld wil afsluiten) Ondanks die reminiscenties (die er misschien niet zouden zijn als de schrijfster Wiske van Dalen zou heten b.v.) is Linn Ullmann een heel oorspronkelijk talent, die in een prachtige en oerdegelijke stijl een ‘verontrustend’ (voor een keer eens een inderdaad meer dan gepast adjectief) familieverhaal vertelt. Wat begint als een thriller (in het bos wordt het lijk van een meisje gevonden) verdicht zich tot een intrigerend caleidoscopisch verhaal uit verschillende lijnen, die elkaar onverwacht ontmoeten, opgebouwd, met de chronologie van het gevoel (als zoiets zou bestaan). Het lijkt wel alsof niemand zijn leven onder controle heeft, terwijl daar toch zo wanhopig naar gestreefd wordt… Een weinig zwarte humor is haar niet vreemd en hoewel haar proza soms als een koude hand om je hart grijpt, laat Ullmann haar personages nergens los, ze belicht dan de ene, dan de andere, door de ene, door de andere, en creëert zo een groot mededogen bij de lezer. Ook de personages laten elkaar, ondanks alles, niet los. Ze zorgen, blijven bij elkaar, zijn bezorgd, voelen zich schuldig, onmachtig, en blijven verder sukkelen... met alles wat hen dierbaar is. Een opvallend motief is de hunker van kinderen naar nestwarmte, ze kruipen bij hun ouders in bed, op schoot, willen (soms door een vreemde) vastgehouden worden. Omdat we, simpelweg door geboren te worden, fundamenteel beschadigd zijn.
  In het Engels is ‘Det dyrebare’ vertaald als ‘The Cold Song’, naar de fameuze aria uit Purcell’s King Arthur (op tekst van John Dryden) die Ariane Mnouchkine ook in Molière gebruikt. Siri denkt aan deze filmscène, na een droom waarin alles wat zij kent verdwenen is, behalve de grote blauwe trap in haar ouderlijk huis. Op die trap rennen zij en haar gezin op en neer, op en neer… een mooie metafoor. ‘Molière zakt op een winteravond op het toneel in elkaar en wordt naar huis gebracht, zijn neus en mond met bloed besmeurd en de rest van zijn gezicht is een mengeling van wit en zwart – restanten dan de schmink – en opeens verandert het gezicht. Het wordt het gezicht van een dier, van een gewonde beer, tot het wegglijdt, Molières gezicht glijdt weg in de dood en dat wat Molières blik was, verandert in twee vochtige, angstige dierenogen die alles zien wat komt en alles wat is geweest, en de theatergroep draagt hem, ondersteunt hem, klampt zich aan hem vast en rent die eindeloze trap omhoog, zonder hun doel te bereiken, want nu heeft de dood hen te pakken, de dood heeft hen tot staan gebracht, de dood houdt hen tegen, voor de stervende Molière kunnen ze het leven niet bereiken, ze hollen, ze vechten, ze werpen zich naar voren maar ze komen niet van hun plaats en overal is het winter en het machtige, bevende, verkillend koude lied uit de zeventiende eeuw daalt op hen neer: ‘Let me, let me, let me freeze again to death’ en dan verdwijnt alles en iedereen, eerst Molières gezicht en daarna de rest, een voor een, tot alleen de trap, die eindeloze trap, overblijft.’
  
• 
  Valentina

  "E tu, Jon, aveva sussurrato una notte, tu che sei uno scrittore, credi che chi scrive lo faccia per diventare un’altra persona e che diventare un’altra persona equivalga a fuggire da se stessi, o che possa voler dire qualcosa di più? Non può indicare anche la necessità di uscire da se stessi per entrare in un’altra persona, mettersi nei suoi panni, condividerne i sentimenti, le esperienze, l’aria che respira?"
  
  Iniziando a leggere La ragazza dallo scialle rosso, ultimo romanzo di Linn Ullmann, si rischia di rimanere un po’ spiazzati. Confusi.
  Intendiamoci: non è perché sia scritto male o perché sia noioso o via dicendo, proprio no, anzi. Forse proprio per il motivo contrario.
  
  La scena si apre il 15 luglio 2008. Jenny Brodal beve vino, sperando che il calore dell’alcol possa aiutarla a scaldare i piedi, vittime innocenti di una circolazione che non vuol proprio fare il suo dovere. Quarantasette ospiti in abiti estivi stanno arrivando per festeggiare il suo settantacinquesimo compleanno.
  
  Stacco.
  
  Simen e i suoi due amici sono alla ricerca di un tesoro. In una radura, sotto a un albero, trovano invece il corpo della giovane Mille, scomparsa due anni prima.
  
  Stacco.
  
  La sera in cui Mille è scomparsa, il 15 luglio 2008, Simen cade dalla sua bicicletta. Scoppia a piangere, finché non arriva lei: «la ragazza con il vestito rosso e i lunghi capelli scuri», con uno scialle intorno alle spalle e un fiore tra i capelli. Mille.
  
  Stacco.
  
  Estate del 2008. Jon Dreyer, marito di Siri (figlia di Jenny, ricordate?), cerca di scrivere il volume conclusivo della sua trilogia. Ma in realtà guarda Mille.
  Mille che, ancora viva e vegeta, è stata assunta per badare alle sue due figlie: Liv e Alma.
  
  E così si procede, saltando avanti e indietro nel tempo, perdendosi nella mente di un personaggio per poi ritrovarsi in quella di un altro. Il trucco, in realtà, è non farsi domande, lasciarsi condurre dalla Ullmann in un romanzo che, ben presto, più che i tratti di un thriller psicologico assume i contorni sfumati di un dramma familiare.
  E non è certo la morte di Mille il vero mistero da risolvere: la sua scomparsa è solo l’inizio di un viaggio tra le sfaccettature dell’animo umano, in cui è facile perdersi in zone d’ombra, parole non dette e conflitti irrisolti.
  Sepolti insieme al corpo della ragazza dallo scialle rosso.
  
  Quanto allo stile, c'è un'unica parola adatta a rendere giustizia a Linn Ulmann: affascinante.
  L'autrice costruisce periodi brevi, incisivi eppure mai frammentari. Scava a fondo nella psiche dei suoi personaggi e, ancor più, in quella dei suoi lettori tanto che, prima ancora di scoprirlo attraverso le parole di Siri (quelle della citazione iniziale), è semplice intuire a quale tipo di scrittrice ci troviamo di fronte.
  
  "Se io per esempio calpesto una scheggia di vetro, riesci a sentire il mio dolore, a percepirlo nel tuo piede, e a descriverlo in maniera tale che possano sentirlo anche tutti coloro che leggono?"
  
  Sì, cara Siri. Abbiamo sentito il tuo dolore. Abbiamo visto il sangue sgorgare. Ne abbiamo percepito il calore
• 
  Olivia Byam

  Hmmmm what to say about this book. The writing was beautiful and haunting. I felt like you really understood all of the different characters thoughts and emotions. It was so sad. Not one character was ever really happy. I feel like certain parts of the book will haunt me for a long time.
• 
  Larry H

  It's amazing how destructive secrets and assumptions can be.
  
  Siri Brodal is a driven, successful restaurant owner in Norway. She's married to Jon Dreyer, a well-known author who has written two-thirds of a popular trilogy, but can't seem to find the words or inspiration for a third book. Instead he spends his time staring at his computer, sending texts and emails to other women, and then having affairs with them (under the guise of walking the family dog or running errands). Siri knows that Jon is a philanderer, but she hopes that once he finishes his book their relationship might go back to normal, although it is consistently challenged by the erratic behavior of their older daughter, Alma.
  
  In an effort to help Jon finish his book, the couple hires Milla, a young woman, to care for Alma and their younger daughter, Liv, when the family takes a summer holiday to the coast of Norway, where they stay in the mansion owned by Siri's formidable, eccentric mother, Jenny. Jenny and Siri's relationship has always been troubled, especially after the death of Siri's younger brother when he was four and she was six.
  
  Milla's presence causes further friction in everyone's lives, especially as Milla takes an interest in Jon, one he appears to reciprocate. Then one night, during Jenny's 75th birthday, Milla disappears, seemingly without a trace. Although it takes a significant amount of time before her remains are discovered and the truth of what happened to her is revealed, her life—and death—brings to light suspicions and secrets that have remained dormant in many relationships. Both Siri and Jon wonder whether their actions played any part in what happened to Milla, and whether they could have done anything to prevent it from happening.
  
  Linn Ullmann's The Cold Song is an interesting book, in that while there is a murder and that causes a bit of a mystery briefly, it is more of a book about how Milla's disappearance and death impacts the other characters and lays bare the fractures in their relationships. It's a tremendously atmospheric book, and you can almost feel the rain and mist that often surrounds the town where much of the book takes place.
  
  Ullmann does a great job in creating her characters and giving them idiosyncrasies and layering them with complexity. While much of the plot is somewhat familiar, Ullmann's storytelling ability keeps you compelled, interested in finding out what issues will come to light and how the plot will be resolved.
• 
  Joanne

  Siri and Jon have been married for well over a decade. She owns and cooks for two restaurants and he is a best-selling author. They spend their summers at the summer resort town of Mailand with Siri's mother. This has worked well until the summer in this book. Jon is a serial philanderer, which Siri has chosen to ignore. He is also years overdue on finishing his most recent novel, due to writer's block.
  
  Thinking that it will free Jon to write, Siri hires 19-year-old Milla to babysit their two daughters Alma and Liv, ages 11and 4. Milla is somewhat odd, socially inept but at the same time rather sly, sneaking photos of people with her phone and pasting the pictures in scrapbooks that she keeps secret. Halfway through the summer, Milla disappears and no one knows what happened to her.
  
  This is not a mystery novel. What happened to Milla is revealed early on, including who did it. This book is about the disintegration of the people in the family she worked for. Siri and her mother Jenny have always had a difficult relationship, and Siri becomes obsessed with repairing it. Jon's inability to write becomes a huge financial pressure, as his editor and publisher tighten the screws. Alma begins to exhibit violence towards people at school, to the point of being suspended. Only Liv appears normal. Meanwhile, Milla's mother is plaguing both Jon and Siri with bleak texts about Milla.
  
  The description of the landscape is excellent. The pain the characters are experiencing feels very real. Everyone has some darkness in them. You begin to realize that Alma had issues long before Milla died. Siri has searing pain from her childhood. Milla is strange and damaged long before she moves in with them. Even the young neighbourhood boys who found Milla's body have issues at home.
  
  I really liked this book. The writing is elegant and the plot intriguing. I will look for other books from her.
  
  
  
• 
  Lisa

  3.5 stars. "The Cold Song" is a beautifully written, bleak novel pivoting around the disappearance of 19 year old Milla on a summer night in coastal Norway. But it is also about loss and disappearance "both literal and figurative." The Brodal family is struggling - Jon has debilitating writer's block, Siri is burdened by her marriage, her mother and memories of her brother, and their eldest daughter Alma's behavior is spiraling out of control.
  
  The novel is fragmented, jumping back and forth between characters and time, making it difficult to feel connected to it. As the story progresses, the momentum picks up and it becomes almost gripping - but the characters remained a mystery to me.