New Passengers

On her way to her first day of work at a high school in another town, a young woman meets a married man on the train. They begin an affair, a ride which proves as bumpy as her transition into the new job. Identifying more with her students than with her colleagues, she struggles to attain the authority expected from her as a teacher. Funny, audacious, wry and innovatively minimalist, Høeg’s lyrical prose elicits the speed and immediacy of both train journeys and digital communication. Slow readers be warned: every line shimmers with quick-witted insight when Høeg casts a critical eye on conventional expectations pertaining to age, work, motherhood and female desire. Winner of Bogforum’s Debutantpris, the prize awarded each year for the best debut work of literary fiction published in Denmark, the novel has also been adapted for the stage at the Royal Danish Theatre.