Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

Per Petterson, a Norwegian author, writes of a man in his 60s who returns to live in a remote cabin in Northern Norway, near the Swedish border, where he relives the drama of his 15th summer. His reflections on that summer are interwoven with a sparse daily life of walking his dog, meeting up with the brother of a friend of his from that fateful summer, chopping a tree, watching the snow fall and encountering a brief visit from his daughter.  This book shows the wounds of a man that were scabbed over for years, but are now rubbed raw again. 

During his summer visit when he was a teenager, he experiences a variety of different events which are difficult for him to piece together-- his friend's violent behavior, his father's love of another woman and the logging of his father's property. Ultimately his father abandons his family as his friend also abandons his family.  As his father says good bye for the last time (although he does not realize it) his father says...."But that's life. That's what you learn when things happen. Especially at your age.  You just have to take it in and remember to think afterwards and never grow bitter. Do you understand?"

This book was beautifully written.  You could feel the emotional struggle of this man trying to piece his life together from that summer long ago. I liked the ironies such as his father's insistence on logging the trees and sending them down the river against his best friend's advice that the timing was not good. The father's intent was to provide some income for his family which he was about to abandon. When the boy and his mother go to collect the money, they can only spend it in Sweden as that is where the bank is. The money is not very much because the timber was sold at a poor time and then the mother cannot take the money out of Sweden, but is required to spend it there. And so she does on a suit for the boy.