A Norway Summer

Follow the journey of a young woman as she travels through the picturesque landscapes of Norway during a summer vacation. Experience the beauty of the fjords and waterfalls, taste the local cuisine, and immerse yourself in the rich cultural history of this stunning country. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

'My grandmother bought the island. The year was 1947 and she was thirty-three, a couple of years older than I am now. She was the visionary sort of person who can make something magical out of very little.' From the moment that Tilly's grandmother, Mor-mor, set eyes on the rocky outline of Småhølmene, it captured her imagination. Legend has it that she bought the island in exchange for a mink coat. Every summer from then on, she and her young family would escape from their life in the English countryside to its rugged outcrops and sparkling waters. Mor-mor loved Småhølmene fiercely. Lean and chic, she smoked voraciously and would scandalise the local islanders by roaming around naked, flanked by her standard black poodle, Cheri. Her children spent their days running wild, thieving for gull eggs, rowing on the lagoon, and foraging for island raspberries, which Mor-mor would sandwich together with whipped cream to make into a sukkerkake. Thirty-five years later, Tilly spent her first summer on Småhølmene. Her Mamma kept up the rituals that she herself had learnt from Mor-mor, and Tilly discovered in the island a living link between her family's past and its present. Glittering and bittersweet, this is the captivating story of the women who made Småhølmene their own: a land of childhood adventures, of magical summers, and of Tilly's first romance.