The Courier – a novel set in Oslo and Stockholm by Kjell Ola Dahl

Submitted: 25th March 2019

There’s been a rather fantastic crime festival on in Oslo this weekend. If you’re feeling a bit bereft, then why not read one of the books by the authors who were there? That’s the best way of ensuring that the festival continues and that even more Nordic Noir good vibes flow across from Oslo..The Courier – a novel set in Oslo and Stockholm by Kjell Ola Dahl is a treat to read. It’s a standalone and a very special one at that…

Fresh from the Krimfestivalen…..The Courier…

The Courier - a novel set in Oslo and Stockholm by Kjell Ola Dahl

BookTrail Travel to the locations in The Courier

#Bookreview

Susan @thebooktrailer

The Courier is a novel set in a time period we all think we know a lot about, but after this I am doubting what I have read before and thinking about events of the war very differently indeed. It’s about Norway’s involvement in the war and its treatment of jews. I admit to knowing nothing of this angle if you can call it that and is something we never studied at school, that’s for sure.

Kjell Ola Dahl normally writes police procedurals so how would he treat such a delicate and senstive subject in a new format? Brilliantly is the simple answer.

He takes us back to 1942 and we see the terror and uncertainty of the time through the eyes of Ester. She’d lived quite a nice life before the war broke out but little by little, she became troubled by the Nazis and their increasing levels of control and persecution. Her father is taken away before she can get to warn him which causes Ester severe anguish. She feels so useless and so Ester then joins the resistance.

She moves to Sweden and really starts work in the Resistance as there is a large number of people assisting the refugees here. Imagine having to move and flee only to constantly worry about your family back home! She meets Gerhard Falkum, who is accused of murdering his wife, Ester’s friend, Åse. Tragedy strikes and Ester is left all alone.

What happened to Gerhard and what happens to Ester? The next part of the story follows Ester as she becomes reacquainted with her past,whether she likes it or not. There are plenty of dangers in that past. People you wouldn’t want to meet again. But they come out of the shadows and Ester is forced to face her past. Except that this past could kill her…

The Courier really put a fresh and interesting spin on a war story. There’s a really fascinating thread about couriers, passing letters and secrets during this most troubled time and it was fascinating to be part of it. The war held many of its secrets close to its heart and they come out of the shadows one by one, tied back first by secrecy, classified documents and then the people caught up in their trap.

This is a strong novel with many layers, secretive and hidden which come to the fore. By the end, the bigger picture is quite something and you see things you might not have picked up during the novel itself. Stand back and admire as if The Courier was a painting of the war, which in a way, it is. The more you look, the more you find.

The settings of Oslo and Stockholm are carefully crafted and very well done across the time periods of 1942 and 1967. The landscape is one of fear, terror, outrage, injustice and not just for the Jewish population,

Kudos to Don Bartlett for making this so easy to read and so accessible to readers outside of Scandinavia.

This then from the Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, in 2012:

“Norwegians carried out the arrests, Norwegians drove the trucks and it happened in Norway….. It is time for us to acknowledge that Norwegian policemen, civil servants and other Norwegians took part in the arrest and deportation of Jews.” – BBC News 27 January 1912