Absolutely adored this book. Definitely worth the read, there wasn't a single most where I didn't feel some form of intense emotion. A very simple and satisfying ending also.

A bit of a slow start, but once it gets going it's fascinating to see how the situation evolves. The situation being the strained relationships between a young man and his father, and the lovers of each, following the death of the young man's mother. There is the grieving process, but also all sorts of jealousies, fears, suspicions and resentment. We read the young man's letters to himself and others and we see how a person can delude themself into hypocritically believing that their feelings, actions and behaviour are the only right and justifiable ones. The young man's immaturity and self-deception is countered by Dagerman's insightful telling of the emotions, motivations and deceptions of all the characters. It doesn't make for comfortable reading - largely because there is much here to recognise in our own make up, and it's often quite ugly! At times, I'm not certain that the translation is quite as good as it could be, and the American spelling grates with me, so I'm not giving this book five stars, but it is certainly an impressive study of complex psychologies.