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Shamed schoolteacher, Mathilde, moves to a dairy farm in the Norwegian countryside for an ’easier life’, but she’s soon up to her old tricks ... upending and unsettling the lives of two reclusive farmers. Exquisitely written, razor-sharp and simmering with an unexpected tension, Toxic marks the return of one of Norway’s finest writers...

Flatland has the gift that I most often covet in the work of other writers: the ability to make everyday events compelling ... how the quietest existence can brim with urgency and drama Ann Morgan

Helga Flatland writes with elegance and subtle humour Daily Express

The author has been dubbed the Norwegian Anne Tyler and for good reason Good Housekeeping

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When Mathilde is forced to leave her teaching job in Oslo after her relationship with eighteen-year-old Jacob is exposed, she flees to the countryside for a more authentic life.

Her new home is a quiet cottage on the outskirts of a dairy farm run by Andres and Johs, whose hobbies include playing the fiddle and telling folktales - many of them about female rebellion and disobedience, and seeking justice, whatever it takes.

But beneath the apparently friendly and peaceful pastoral surface of life on the farm, something darker and more sinister starts to vibrate and, with Mathilde’s arrival, cracks start appearing ... everywhere.

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Praise for Helga Flatland

The most beautiful, elegant writing I’ve read in a long time Joanna Cannon

Helga Flatland writes with such astuteness about families Prima

I absolutely loved its quiet, insightful generosity Claire King

So perceptive and clever Rónán Hession

Thoughtful and reflective Observer

A beautifully written, bittersweet, moving and poignant ... a wise novel of great insight NB Magazine

Poignant and beautifully written ... The prose and style, with the dialogue enveloped in the narrative, is intimate, evocative and moving Kristin Gleeson

I love the sophistication, directness and tenderness of this book Claire Dyer

The most satisfying book that I’ve read in a long time ... masterful Sara Taylor

A moving and exquisite read Shelan Rodger

Helga Flatland is already one of Norway’s most awarded and widely read authors. Her fifth novel, A Modern Family (her first English translation), was published to wide acclaim in Norway in August 2017, and was a number-one bestseller. The rights have subsequently been sold across Europe and the novel has sold more than 100,000 copies. One Last Time was published in 2020 and is currently topping bestseller lists in Norway

Matt is a British, Norwegian-to-English translator, born in Coventry in 1971. Matt studied at Derby University, and spent several years as a musician and songwriter. In 2001, Matt moved to Norway, working with graphic design and music, while gradually developing an interest in translation. Now he works full-time with authors, publishers, literary agencies, and film producers - within fiction and non-fiction. From climate science or animal philosophy - to Roman history and Russian punk. Matt recently translated Simon Stranger’s acclaimed WW2 novel Keep Saying Their Names.