This is a quiet exploration of a woman in her thirties entering into motherhood and her working as an "oracle" (advice columnist) in the local newspaper, making new friends, attending school meetings and having a social life in a remote Danish village. There is a good chunk of material that deals with the woman's exploration of motherhood, being young mother and worrying, and talking to other mothers. Its perhaps the letters she receives for her advice column and the responses she gives, that stands out the most. While the everyday mundane slowly progresses and the woman builds her relationship with the village itself, its the responses she gives in those letters that give her the character, tells the readers more about the woman.
This book didn't quite work for me as i wasn't absorbed with everyday life of people, or the various interactions the woman has with others.

<i>Thank you to Netgalley and World Editions for providing me with a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

The land of short sentences is clever wry and unique look at young motherhood in a remote part of West Jutland Denmark. It takes place in a kind of residential school the narrator's partner is a teacher and she and their young son follow him there. She in the meantime occupies herself with driving lessons and writing an agony aunt column. The book follows her experiences over a year, where life is rather placid and the most dramatic scene in the book except for the almost choking of her son is her struggle with the folding of the stroller. The story follows her observations and musings on the most quotidian things about parenting and relationships, interspersed are the letters and answers as well as poems, that add to the quirkiness of the voice. The most revealing and ingenious are the letters which expose more about her as she answers the readers questions. As long as you don't expect much action, you'll find this whimsical and fun.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher World Editions for an arc.

Loved this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read a digital arc in exchange for my feedback.

"Dear Martyr,

You know the type of person who is always saying what type of person they are. They are never the type they think. When people are defining themselves, they are in fact revealing their greatest wishes or their deepest fear. You can never trust an institution that investigates itself, police officers who are questioned by their friends, or academics who quote their own articles. Speak kindly of your husband, dear Martyr, we all have a responsibility when a fellow motorist needs to merge into our lane. Just because you can't see yourself, it doesn't mean that you are invisible".

Stine Pilgaard delivered a riveting, dark humoured Danish lit of what I can only describe as a mixture of Bridget Jones and Carrie from Sex and the City if they merged into one and wrote today. True to Scandi lit, the novel was blunt, emphasised a realist point of view and often fell into the classic tropes of sarcasm and wit - my favourite.

The protagonist is an 'oracle' or an agony aunt and her life antics rotate between letters to and from locals who write in letters for advice. She is focused mainly on herself, answers through examples of her own life and an eternal driving student, something I relate to on a personal level. She finds the absurd and humour in every strange situation and owns her weirdness. When someone emphasises that they're probably not friends, she keeps pushing the point, missing the social cue and pursuing her own interests instead of what is socially acceptable, yet she's accepted tenderly by the more reserved locals for her good nature.

The book is hilarious and I strongly recommend. Every letter of advice holds deeper insights into the lack of self awareness of others, whilst reminding us not to become bitter over our own flaws and instead either embrace or improve them. I don't have too much to say because the book says it all.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc.

A quick and entertaining read. I enjoyed this book as well as the characters.

Thank you to Stine Pilgaard, NetGalley and World Editions for the ARC of this book.

The Land of Short Sentences is a truly charming book. Stine Pilgaard explores loneliness, isolation, personal and interpersonal shortcomings, small-town life, friendship, parenthood, and love with a light touch and a wealth of warmth and humour. Despite their many flaws, her characters--particularly the anxiously garrulous narrator--cannot help coming off as sympathetic and relatable. This might just be a perfect book to read in an era when most of us have learned far more than we ever wanted to about being unusually lonely and isolated and worrying that no one understands us. Pilgaard, through both the novel's narrative and the advice column her narrator writes for a local newspaper, reminds us both that no one understands anyone and that nevertheless we may sometimes find ourselves perfectly understood. I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a little bit of comfort and a good laugh.

I received a free e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review.

"It’s not like I’m some kind of sick stalker, I say. What are you then, Anders Agger asks. The gravel crunches beneath my feet, and I shrug my shoulders. Do you want to tell me an idea for a documentary, Anders Agger asks. He is often sought out by people eager to shed light on a particular topic.

I shake my head and say that I’m just a transplant, and I’m having a hard time talking to the Velling locals. Anders Agger concedes that the flow of conversation may be a bit different, and he says that, in contrast to everyone else, he has the opportunity to edit the pauses out of his programs. That’s a cheap trick, I say, and I criticize him for giving a distorted picture of reality. To be honest, I think the people of West Jutland have a negligent relationship with communication, I say.

A different one than you in any case, says Anders Agger. Even the names of the towns are terse, I say, Tim, Hee, Noe, Bur, Lem, Spjald, Tarm. Vemb, Asp, Tvis, Skjern, says Anders Agger, and he drums his fingers against the roof of the car. In Velling most people work with the wind, the earth, or animals, he says. Nature doesn’t talk back, and that can be contagious when you live here."

A charming and humorous story with a slight edge, the narrator pitched somewhere between the eponymous [book:Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine|31434883] and the wonderfully memorable Helen in [book:Sorry to Disrupt the Peace|31213490], although closer to the former, as she attempts to learn how to speak to folks in West Jutland, her oversharing nature rather at odds with the tactiturn locals, wrestles with sleep deprevation due to her young son, drives a succession of driving instructors to despair, stalks the (real-life) documentary maker Anders Agger, writes an idiosnycratic advice column in the local newspaper that usually comes back to her own issues rather than her correspondents, and fights off one of the students who is trying to seduce her boyfriend, a teacher at the college where he works and they both live.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think this book will strongly appeal to a "certain kind of reader," someone who enjoys experimental prose and prose poems and non-standard grammar. That said, I didn't really enjoy the experimental techniques, finding them a distraction from the story.

This book was a huge hit when published in Denmark, sort of a Danish Eleanor Oliphant. Such acclaim leads to mixed reactions from readers, and I supposed the same will be when this translated version is published in 2022. The cultural references are surprisingly universal, including some surprises such as references to a variety of material, not all trendy, such as Pink Floyd. The experiences of a young mother whose partner is teaching at a hojskole in West Jutland include her taking a job as an "oracle," answering letters to a help column in the local paper. While there was a lot to admire, quite a bit of humor arising from her answers to such letters in which she reveals more of herself rather than providing advice to problems, I didn't really connect with the characters. What I did enjoy was the inclusion of "songs" and insights into the culture.

The land of short sentences is the latest novel by Danish writer Stine Pilgaard. An award-winning, bestseller in Denmark, it’s a gentle, wry, slice-of-life narrative. It’s presented from the perspective of a woman in her thirties with a small child whose boyfriend’s accepted a job tutoring at a hojskole in a remote part of West Jutland. As the translator’s notes explain, a hojskole is a kind of residential school for post-18s that provides a liberal, creative learning environment that deal with everything from writing to ceramics to nutrition. Her partner’s school has its own tightknit, satellite community made up of staff and their families but the narrator struggles to find her place within it. The book follows her experiences over a year, her attempts to make friends, juggle her personal desires with the demands of motherhood and work out how to exist in such an isolated, rural place. The main character takes a job as an advice columnist, what she jokingly calls an oracle, and exchanges from her writing surface throughout, a way of allowing her to muse on her ideas about parenting, relationships, and retaining a sense of self. She’s surrounded by a small recurring cast of eccentric local characters, all of them desperate to tell her how to act, how to fit into their society. It’s a well-crafted, nicely-observed piece, I liked the portrayal of Danish culture, and I often enjoyed Pilgaard’s subtle humour but I’m also not convinced I was the right reader for this. So much is centred on mothering and motherhood, not something I can really relate to or find particularly absorbing. Translated from Danish by Hunter Simpson.

If you need something light and humorous then this novel is for you.  Translated from Danish, this is a book about a woman who moves to a new town with her boyfriend and newborn baby.  Social chit chat was never her strong point so making friends and finding her feet is a tricky challenge.  On the other hand, she excels at being the advice columnist for the local newspaper.  Meanwhile she “wounds the professional pride” of all the local driving instructors by failing to grasp this apparently basic life skill.  Eighty seven lessons later, she finally passed.  Personally, I empathised.  I also went through driving instructors like a can of Pringles.

Stine Pilgaard introduces the non Danish reader to the concept of hojskole (folk schools) and offers many laughs even whilst there is a tinge of loneliness to the story.  This was quick and enjoyable read and I highly recommend it.

This is a sparkling intelligent novel looking at motherhood and fitting in in a new community
It has been translated from the original Norwegian with some additional notes that allow the uk reader to understand the difference between our education system as the book is set in a college type not seen in our system
I loved the letters the main character writes in her job as an agony aunt to a local rural newspaper and just wish we had such endearingly direct replies in our own local rag .They are witty but also perceptive
I loved the story of the young family settling to the differences in their new rural neighbourhood at the same time as struggling as surely we all do with the job of being parents to a newborn .
I found the book fresh and innovative ,I’ve not read anything quite like it
My only criticism was it seemed to end rather suddenly ,it was end of year ,students were off home and the book stops
I hope this means there will be a sequel
It would make a fantastic tv series
I read an early copy on NetGalley Uk the book is published 1st match 2022

Brilliantly written loved from beginning to end.A book that is funny a satire on small town living a commentary on the real world. I am so happy this well known author was translated to English,Hoping more will follow.Highly recommend this five star novel. #netgalley#worldeditions