A Change of Time

“A masterpiece of the epistolary novel told in diary entries . . . beautifully translated . . . deeply felt”—from an award-winning and bestselling Danish novelist (Bookforum)

A penetrating study of a woman who, in the wake of her domineering husband’s death, must embrace her newfound freedom and redefine herself

Set in rural Denmark in the early 20th century, A Change of Time tells the story of a schoolteacher whose husband, the town doctor, has passed away. Her subsequent diary entries form an intimate portrait of a woman rebuilding her identity, and a small rural town whose path to modernity echoes her own path to joyful independence.
 
“An engaging, honest, and beautifully written look at love, loss, and self-realization.”
—Kirkus Reviews

Ida Jessen is the author of A Change of Time (En Ny Tid), which received the Blixen Prize and Danish Radio's Best Novel Prize, as well as several bestselling and award-winning novels. A member of the Danish Academy, she is known as a master of psychological realism. She has also translated the work of Marilynne Robinson and Alice Munro into Danish.

About the translator: Martin Aitken is the acclaimed translator of numerous novels from Danish and Norwegian, including works by Karl Ove Knausgaard, Hanne Ørstavik, Peter Høeg, Jussi Adler-Olsen, and Pia Juul, and his translations of short stories and poetry have appeared in many literary journals and magazines. In 2012 he was awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation's Nadia Christensen Translation Prize.