I knew nothing about this one going in, but generally with Peirene Press you know you’re in safe hands when it comes to translated fiction. The Looking-Glass Sisters is translated from the Norwegian and set in the lonely plains of Northern Norway. In a house far from anyone there live two sisters, one has been the caretaker for the other since they were little girls. After the death of their parents fairly young, Ragna is the sole caretaker of her younger sister, who is unnamed and narrating the novel. She’s left unable to walk without aid after a childhood illness and never leaves the house.

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Even before the arrival of Johan, the sisters do not share a bond. The narrator is subjected to small cruelties at the hands of Ragna, things that on their own as one-offs might not look so bad, but which strip the narrator of her dignity when inflicted day in, day out. But when Ragna’s attention is diverted by Johan, the younger sister’s plight worsens as she becomes convinced the pair are trying to ship her off to a nursing home. Although limited by her physical disability, she still does her best to make their lives as miserable as they make hers.

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It’s a bleak read for sure, the degradation of the narrator against the brutal landscape of Northern Norway makes for a grim pairing. But the prose often crackles with an almost mischievous tone, the translation by John Irons is extremely well done. Much of the book takes place within the claustrophobic confines of the narrator’s head, and I never felt like the intensity of that was lessened by a clumsy turn of phrase.

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One I’m very glad I picked up for #WomenInTranslation month, a bleak and disturbing little number that I’d recommend to fans of grim psychological fiction.