The Boy at the Door

Starred review from May 7, 2018
Set in Sandefjord, Norway, Dahl’s heartrending first novel focuses on Cecilia Wilborg, a well-to-do suburban wife seething with anger, frustration, and a long-hidden secret. One October evening, after her daughters’ swimming session, Cecilia finds herself willy-nilly caring for Tobias, a seven-year-old boy who was abandoned at the public pool. When she tries to take Tobias home, she discovers that the address he gives is an empty house. Cecilia’s fraught involvement with the boy soon leads to a dizzying downward spiral of alcohol, drugs, lying, and guilt. Her first-person narrative alternates with two other pain-filled stories, one revealed through the cathartic journal kept by Annika Lucasson—a viciously exploited drug addict who once tended to Tobias and knows Cecilia’s secret—and the other centered on the psychologically damaged Tobias. Their intersecting tales reveal ironic twists of fate en route to the bittersweet conclusion. Dahl savagely delineates the price of living in a society that insists women must try to be perfect wives and mothers and have successful careers, too, or they’ll be inevitably made to feel they’re never good enough. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Agency.

The prosperous Norwegian village where this addictive novel is set could be anywhere in the world, though the Scandinavian details fascinate. The three actors who voice Cecilia, a beautiful rich housewife, Tobias, an abandoned child, and Annika, a doomed junkie, are perfectly cast, have appealing voices, and do exactly what the story needs them to do. Cecilia especially is a tricky challenge--any mother would identify with her at first but--keep listening. Tobias is winning though more damaged than he first appears, and Annika, who should appall you, is deeply touching. The ingredients of the plot might sound like conventional noir, with unreliable narrators, hidden connections, and secrets and lies, but this is an unusual and brilliantly executed example, and a flawless listen. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine