Stay with Me

Ørstavik (The Pastor) unspools a fascinating metafictional story of fear, love, and the desire to make art from life. The unnamed narrator, a recently widowed 50-something writer who’s begun an affair with the much younger M, returns from Oslo to her childhood home, reflecting on how she grew up in a constant state of fear owing to her father’s temper and her mother’s desertion. She begins writing a novel, and Ørstavik seamlessly shifts from the writer’s narration to her manuscript, which is centered on a similar Norwegian woman named Judith, who travels with her much younger lover, orchestra conductor Mytro, to Minneapolis. Following Mytro’s unexpected death, Judith falls for a teenage organist while listening to him play in a cathedral. The narrator then travels with M to Italy, where she attends no-less enchanting concerts and takes MDMA, wondering all the while how to explain her unconventional relationship to her friends and family, even as she begins to recoil from M’s frequent mood swings. She turns again to Judith, as both she and her protagonist seek to become more self-possessed, and the narrative offers searing insights on trauma and recurrence. It’s an intriguing literary double act. (Apr.)