DRC Review: The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten
- Story Eater
- Nov 1
- 2 min read
Release date: 18 November 2025 (18 September 2023 in Norway)
Rating: 3.75/5
Synopsis: Nils Vik wakes up on November the 18th and knows it will be the day he dies. He follows his morning routine as voices from his past echo in his mind, and looks around the empty house one last time, before stepping onto his beloved boat.
His dog, dead these many years, leaps aboard with him, and then the other dead begin to emerge—from the woods along the fjord, from each of the ferry stops along the route, from his logbook full of memories and quotations and jotted-down notes about the weather conditions. The people from the past accompany him now, prodding him, showing him what he might have missed before, as he waits for his Marta, his late, remarkable wife, to finally join him on the boat again.
Review
I love stories firmly rooted in reality told with an air of the speculative. The Ferryman and His Wife (or The Day Nils Vik Died in Norwegian) feels absolutely haunting with an atmosphere perfect for shorter days, reflective evenings, and cold temperatures. Grytten's prose gives an experience to narrative that takes me out of the doldrums that can pervade the fiction market. I've read quite a few translated books in the past couple of years, and with books as well written as this one, I think I'll continue seeking them out as rule going forward.
Translated works always bring a unique reading experience for me. Much like indies, the plots break the mold and really liven up the bookshelf. The novel also seems to have a flexibility in how readers can interpret what unfolds. It all read like a fever dream to me, with the dead accompanying Nils on his boat as he fades from life, taking all of the people along with him, ferrying them along like Charon down the cold Styx between the mountains in the snowy backdrop. Why they all waited for him to take them where the writer imagines they should be going remains a mystery; but the whole point of the novella, I think, lies in its poignancy and not so much in solid world building.
Despite loving the writing style and plot concept, I found the descriptions of everyday occurrences to be a bit grotesque, and I take exception to the negative stereotypes painted in the characters. There are some intense scenes of violence, including that involving animals, which contradicted the tone presented. Nils sails peacefully along, remembering the happiness and occasional tumults in his life, but the peppering of violence seems to break up the flow and stilt the emotional effect. I think if the book were any longer than it is, I may have gotten discouraged and perhaps put it down just to preserve my sanity.
Overall, 3.75/5. Remarkable prose gives a fantastic feel to a potentially mundane reflection of a ferryman's life, but some of the themes and content held it back from really impacting me how it could have. I also don't think the title really suits the narrative.
My thanks to Algonquin/Hachette for the DRC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.
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