The new book by the great dramatist Jon Fosse is a novel about love, a timeless fairy tale of great tenderness and poetry. It was awarded the most important literary prize in the Scandinavian countries, the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2015. Not only Fosse's plays but also his narrative works are among the best found in European literature. Two young people, Alida and Asle, wander through a Norwegian coastal town. It is late autumn, it is cold, and Alida is heavily pregnant. They have nothing with them but the two bundles that Asle has tied up and the case with the violin, a family heirloom from his father. But no one wants to give them shelter. At some point, Asle can no longer be turned away and forcefully enters a house with Alida, belonging to an old woman. Not long after, to cover their tracks, Asle and Alida go to Olav.