Unformed Landscape - Peter Stamm

Unformed Landscape begins in a small village on a fjord in the Finnmark, on the northeastern
coast of Norway, where the borders between Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia lie
covered in snow and darkness, where the real borders are between day and night, summer
and winter, and between people.
Here, a sensitive young woman like Kathrine finds
few outlets for her desires. Half Norwegian, half Sami (an indigenous people), Kathrine
works for the customs office inspecting the fishing boats arriving regularly in the
harbor. She is in her late 20s, has a son from an early marriage, and has drifted
into a second loveless marriage to a man whose cold and dominating conventionality
forms a bold stroke through the unformed landscape of her life. After she makes a
discovery about her husband that deeply wounds her, Kathrine cuts loose from her
moorings and her confusion and sets off in search of herself.

Her journey begins
aboard a ship headed south, taking her below the Arctic Circle for the first time
in her life. Kathrine makes her way to France and has the bittersweet experience
of a love affair that flares and dies quickly, her starved senses rewarded by the
shimmering beauty of Paris. Through a series of poignant encounters, Kathrine is
led to the richer life she was meant to have and is brave enough to claim.

Using
simple words strung together in a melodic alphabet, Peter Stamm introduces us, through
a series of intimate sketches, to the heart of an unforgettable woman. Her story
speaks eloquently about solitude, the fragility of love, lost illusions, and self-discovery.