Review of THE SEVEN DOORS by Agnes Ravatn

 4.5 Stars

Three years ago I was very impressed by Agnes Ravatn’s debut novel The Bird Tribunal (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/2018/02/review-of-bird-tribunal-by-agnes-ravatn.html), so I was excited to discover that she’d written a second book.  The Seven Doors is as immersive and compelling as her first novel.

Nina Wisløff is a classic literature professor nearing retirement and facing the loss of her childhood home because it is going to be expropriated for an infrastructure project.  At the same time, her daughter Ingeborg is looking for a larger house.  Nina’s husband Mads inherited a house which he has rented to a tenant, but Ingeborg thinks it might be perfect for her family so she and Nina visit the current tenant, a single mother named Mari Nilsen.  Ingeborg bluntly tells Mari that she and her son will have to move out.  A few days later, Nina learns that Mari has gone missing after leaving her son with his grandparents.  Feeling guilty that Ingeborg’s abrasiveness may have played a role in Mari’s disappearance, Nina starts to investigate what might have happened to her.

Characterization is excellent.  Nina is at a crossroads; she is dissatisfied at work and the loss of her home is emotionally devastating.  Feeling restless, she focuses on trying to discover what happened to Mari.  Once she begins, she refuses to give up, even when she is proven incorrect more than once.  There is much to admire about her; for example, she is caring and compassionate.  What appeals is that she is very relatable in her flaws.  Her relationship with her granddaughter will certainly make readers smile. 

Ingeborg is another interesting character.  She is like a human bulldozer who will manipulate anyone to get what she wants.  She is impatient, persistent, and aggressive.  Nina finds her daughter’s behaviour cringeworthy, but she knows what to expect from Ingeborg, and the reader does too.  Even Mari is well developed, though she is physically present only in one scene.  Indirect characterization, especially the comments of others, leaves the reader with a complex portrayal of Mari. 

Dialogue is not punctuated so the reader must concentrate.  That need for focus is a good thing because the writing is so precise that nothing is superfluous.  Near the beginning Nina gives a lecture on Greek tragedy.  Her students are largely inattentive, but a reader who skims will miss so much that is relevant.  In fact, the main points of her lecture serve as a blueprint for reading the novel. 

Not just Oedipus Rex but Aesop’s fables and the “Bluebeard” folktale offer foreshadowing, symbolism, and thematic depth.  I guessed the truth long before the ending, but I think that Ravatn wants the reader to know, as evidenced by the numerous examples of dramatic irony.  The focus is not what happened to Mari so much as Nina’s investigation and her refusal to give up.  Even suspecting the truth, the reader will undoubtedly feel the powerful impact of the last page.

This book is a domestic thriller with psychological overtones.  It begins slowly but suspense builds, and the Norwegian winter adds atmosphere.  But the novel is also literary fiction at its best because it enriches as it entertains.  I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a unique read; actually, I think I’m going to re-read it, knowing I will find even more to admire in the elegant layering of the narrative.