Under the Sun is a startling post-modern work. It follows the life of Margarethe Theide, who is born, grows up and lives in a small fishing village on the Danish coast. It follows her life, and those of the characters who inhabit the town. Her childhood is shaped by her mother ('the carrot fairy'), three elderly eccentric brothers who live together in a cottage and speak their own language, and her friend Lily Lund. As she grows up and ages her relationships with these, and others, bring into question her definitions of truth and reality. Meanwhile, the murky goings-on at a newly built naval base and Egon, the town's grey eminence, provide an uncomfortable undercurrent to Margarethe's life.
Under the Sun mixes dream narratives, fairy tale language and bouts of madness to create an unreal, hallucinatory feeling. All of these are presented as being as real as 'reality' (or perhaps as unreal as 'reality'). Other strong themes include the maleability of time, with events that are seperated by years being discussed simultaneously, and the failure of our language to accomodate this dream-like reality. It is an ambitious, post-modern novel that, most of the time, succeeds in challenging the reader to inhabit this new world. It never loses its emotional power, despite addressing some weighty intellectual issues. This is probably my read of the year to date.