• Will and Testament

  • A Novel
  • By: Vigdis Hjorth
  • Narrated by: Nano Nagle
  • Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (80 ratings)

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Will and Testament  By  cover art

Will and Testament

By: Vigdis Hjorth
Narrated by: Nano Nagle
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Publisher's Summary

A controversial best seller from one of Norway’s most intelligent and highly-regarded novelists

When a dispute over her parents’ will grows bitter, Bergljot is drawn back into the orbit of the family she fled 20 years before. Her mother and father have decided to leave two island summer houses to her sisters, disinheriting the two eldest siblings from the most meaningful part of the estate. To outsiders, it is a quarrel about property and favoritism. But Bergljot, who has borne a horrible secret since childhood, understands the gesture as something very different - a final attempt to suppress the truth and a cruel insult to the grievously injured. 

Will and Testament is a lyrical meditation on trauma and memory, as well as a furious account of a woman’s struggle to survive and be believed.

©2019 Vigdis Hjorth (P)2019 Blackstone Publishing

What listeners say about Will and Testament

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Well written but difficult subject matter

Narration is great. Style of writing is unusual and at times a bit belaboring but it’s a well-written story about a very difficult subject matter. It’s hard to recommend a book like this because it’s not exactly enjoyable though it is a compelling perspective to get a glimpse of.

1 person found this helpful

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An Illuminating Read

Will and Testament begins as an inheritance dispute over two vacation cabins, and methodically progresses to the real subject: the protagonist’s childhood sexual abuse by her father and her family’s denial of it. Both the prose and the performance are flat, which is fitting: abuse victims suffer from “flat affect” because of their trauma. It wasn’t an easy listen, but I found it compelling.

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Tedious!

I struggled with this one.
The writing style was annoying with so many repeats of the same sentence and words.
I pushed through hoping it will get better but it didn't and then it stopped so abruptly I'm still confused.
Narration was okay.

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  • Kevin Dobson
  • 10-13-22

An amazing book

As an adult survivor of a challenging childhood I found this book very special, no two situations are the same but I found myself saying “me too”. Vigdis writes with an empathy of the battles I have faced with myself and family members. It made me feel validated.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Stella
  • 04-23-23

Gripping and intense

It’s a wonderful book that takes you right inside the head of a clever, damaged, self-aware woman who is old enough to have lived a full life. Will be familiar to readers of Karl Ove Knaussgard, but Hjorth is much more concise and focused.

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  • Steph Baines
  • 10-12-20

perceptive in exploring family rifts

A deep feeling exploration of what it is to have an elephant in the room whenever the family comes together; of deep, futile and impossible hurt, which can hardly ever be healed, but unfortunately a slow, dull read.

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  • finnea
  • 01-09-20

Strong, penetrating, stylish memoir

This is a really wonderful book. Strong overtones of Karl Ove Knausgaard in the way that everyday family interactions are explored -- but this memoir is driven by a fearless exploration of a life lived in the shadow of abuse and family collusion. Amazingly clear sighted, literary and emotionally raw at the same time.

This is a classic of the #MeToo era and essential reading for anyone interested in the nuances of emotional politics in families.