Not without blame

Norway is the setting of this unforgettable story. The picture it presents of loneliness and frustration amid the material comforts of a highly-civilized community is not new in the modern novel. What is new is that the sombre shadows are at length pierced by a new light.

The latter parts of the story are illuminated by Ramm's own faith in the boundless possibilities of human beings: by the sturdy optimism which made him, in 1940, fight on against the Nazis when to fight on looked hopeless.

The book presents an absorbing panorama of 'life' in its reality.