India, Aug. 5 -- The Norwegian writer, Vigdis Hjorth is well known for novels that centre protagonists (mostly women) who are on the edge of disaster, or recovery from one. From Will and Testament that was nominated for the US National Book Award for Translated Literature in 2019 to Is Mother Dead? that was longlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize, Hjorth has garnered an international readership for her compulsive prose. Her latest novel, Repetition, translated by Charlotte Barslund, centres a middle-aged writer who is looking back at her traumatic teenage years.

Repetition begins with a middle-age woman waking up in a cabin on a cold November morning while it is still dark and going out for a walk with her dog. She retreats to...