“Nothing Will Grow Over Me” is a book about not finding home, to lose contexts and to be completely lost while everyone around is certain of their place in the world. The text runs smoothly; there are short chapters that encourage you to continue reading. Jenny is easy to identify with and the glitch between those who are fascinated by the working class and those who live in it is described in a very skilled way. A well written novel that sticks with the reader.
BTJ
“Tell me something about your family, about Sörede”, he mumbles drowsily, ”I need to think of something other than my work.”
Jenny has moved to Stockholm. It’s the city that during her childhood represented the future. Here is the culture, the career, maybe the opportunity to change? Left in the sleepy childhood village are the parents, who don’t understand at all what she’s dreaming of, and the younger sisters she once was supposed to conquer the world with.
But to fill the emptiness that echoes inside of her with something that feels more real is more difficult than Jenny thought. At work she’s driven and good, but the stories she creates there are about selling products. When it comes to her own story she’s more insecure. When she meets Sebastian, the research student with all the theories, her vague existence is contoured while the differences between them creates confusion. He moves effortlessly in the world, talks as freely about New York as Paris. To him Jenny’s background seems like an exotic asset, but what does he know about that? About her life and the cost of things?
What do you do to be close to another person, beyond all images and ideas about yourself and others?
Nothing Will Overgrow Me is Elin Grelsson’s third novel and is published by Natur & Kultur in Sweden.
