The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten is a poignant and introspective novel that unfolds over the course of a single day in the life of Nils Vik, a ferryman in western Norway. As Nils embarks on his final journey across the fjord, he encounters passengers from his past, both living and deceased, prompting reflections on love, loss, and the passage of time. The narrative delicately intertwines themes of memory and mortality, offering readers a meditative exploration of life's fleeting moments.

This book was beautiful in its simplicity. On what he knows will be his last day of life, Nils encounters people from his past, both major characters and one time connections. He reflects on how their existence impacted him and how he impacted them in return. He reflects on the love and life shared with his wife, who it is clear he misses a great deal. I found myself wanting to know more about the people he encountered on the fjord, but I think that was true for him as well. Some people he didn't get to know well. He seeks the refuge of his wife throughout the trip, waiting to come home to her as he had done after every day on the fjord.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a slow and thoughtful book written in a voice and tone that perfectly match the setting-- an elderly ferry operator's final trip through the fjord where he has transported all sorts of people for all of his working years. Picking up passengers along the way, he recalls encounters with those folks over time. This is his life passing before his eyes and for the length of the journey the author patiently lets his character think it all through. The remarkably slow consistent pace and and smooth transitions between memory and fantasy evidence this writer's incredible skills. He depicts an array of distinct characters, the milieu of a small town, and the deepest feelings of true love, I recommend it for readers who want a vacation but don't have the time or money to get away. I also think it will appeal to thinkers, the kinds of readers who appreciate being immersed in a novel and aren't just rushing from plot twists to conclusion.

"The fjord...never still, it rumbles and rustles, it whispers and rushes...". "He learned to read the water and the wind, the clouds and the sky...how the waves would break...And with this knowledge came that other knowledge, experience, gleaned by men at sea over thousands of years...Don't whistle into the wind...get a tattoo of a pig or a rooster or a swallow-these animals and birds that know the way home."

On his last day of life, Nils Vik "will pull a thread through time, follow it backwards, see where time takes him...He will trace what he has loved in life, lift it up, honour it." Following his morning ritual, he thanks his deceased wife, Marta for his meal. He leaves a postcard on the mantel with a message written to his two daughters, "I have left this house, and I won't be coming back. Take good care of each other. Dad." He removes and burns the mattress he shared with Marta in a bonfire with other household items. "The mattress told the story of an entire life..." a private life.

Through the milky fog, Nils was bound for his boat...the MB Marta...made of oak...converted from a sailboat into a ferry boat. He was joined by his faithful dog Luna who obediently walked beside him, Luna long gone...once a trembling puppy rescued by Nils, then a constant in the wheelhouse. Luna suggests that Nils check his logbooks for notes on passengers, geography and the weather.

On Nil Vik's last journey, he remembers and highlights some of his passengers. There was Jon Anderson, a teenage troublemaker who played songs on his guitar. He visualized Jon tuning his guitar, Luna dozing at Jon's feet. He remembers an old priest he ferried to three different churches on Sundays. He ferried the Prime Minister. When the movie "Song of Norway" was being filmed, Edward G. Robinson was a passenger aboard the ferry. Luna, Nils' trusted companion, was always "assistant ferryman" in the wheelhouse. So many passengers...shadows, now long gone...was Marta's shadow among them?

Ah, Marta! Nils reminisces about his courtship of Marta. She always denied that she cycled over to his side of the fjord then punctured her rear tire because he was "the man to see about fixing things." He gave her a lift home and the rest was history.

Out on the fjord, "the same day never happens twice...every day the fjord will change...sometimes nature serves up its most monumental aspects, a wind that no house or boat is built for...the weather inside me changes too...yes, a ferry man is a constant variation, reliable and to be trusted..." Soon that momentum will be lost...will Marta be waiting?

What a beautiful little gem! Its power is in its simplicity. The novel describes the life of a ferryman, Nils Vik, happy to have lived in a house passed down for generations, a man devoted to Marta, the love of his life, a man of simple wants and needs. The novel, an uplifting celebration of life. Highly recommended.

Thank you Algonquin Books and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked what I read and I think Frode Grytten got everything right with Nils Vic, Marta, Eli, and Guro. In his last day Nils Vic seemed to pick up every dead person that he had some contact with until he could feel Marta was with him. The whole story revolves around this instant where he finally feels his dog Luna presence and all the people who had an impact on his life. But, it was Marta love he was looking for before he past.

A poignant and thought-provoking tale about a man who is, knowingly, experiencing his last day on Earth. It's sure to resonate with readers as they contemplate which memories and loved ones would be on their mind if they were in his position.