“I don’t know who made the universe. But sometimes, it begins to lack the most elementary care for you!”
A new (2010) novel by the famous Danish writer, author of “Smilla and Her Feel for the Snow,” is told from the perspective of a 14-year-old boy, the son of a priest from the island of Fyn—a most prosperous corner of Denmark.
But then the parents disappear. You must find them before the police find them. You can’t count on help from adults. Your allies in the investigation are the sister, the brother, and a fox terrier—unless you count Count Ricard, a hereditary aristocrat and former drug addict.
The search for the parents leads into an interfaith terrorist organization planning to disrupt the first congress of all religions in the world.
And at the same time, before it’s too late, you must organize your own happy childhood with your own hands. And solve the main, most difficult question—how to go on living at 14.