‘It would be my goal for the book itself to be cathartic for the participants.’

‘I’m not sure I’d fit that description. About, uh, trauma and using it for healing…’

‘Oh. Okay. Well, of course no pressure whatsoever.’ She’s going to get up and politely bid this woman goodbye, but maybe because she seems so gentle and trustworthy, or maybe it is because she reminds her of her best friend, Elisabeth surprises herself by speaking of the things she never speaks of anymore.

‘I paint a lot of blood,’ she whispers. ‘The way it is such a symbol of death and destruction, but really it is the very essence of life. The other day… I painted actual blood into one of the paintings. One of the ones in the vernissage. Watching it merge and darken with the paint and become part of a thing of beauty – it made me feel good. Like everything ugly could become beautiful someday.’ When she stops speaking, she’s surprised and also moved to see a sheen of tears in Ella’s eyes.

‘That’s the picture I want to buy,’ she says.

*

Later, in the night, she sits on the windowsill and looks out at the shimmering, moonlit sea. She considers painting, or maybe finishing the bird sketch, until she gets tired enough to hope for sleep. She’d felt light after speaking with Ella, and it took her by surprise. It had felt good to speak to someone not paid to care for her, someone who knows nothing about her history, other than that she is obviously a recovering heroin addict.

Though Elisabeth has spent years in therapy and various rehabilitation programs, it is different speaking to a friend, and most of her friends have dropped away by now. Many have died of overdoses, a few have managed to stay clean and understandably have to cut out everyone from that old, dark life of using and abusing, and then there’s Kristina. Where Kristina comes across as so infuriatingly perfect and calm and centered, Ella seemed a little rougher around the edges, a little more real. Still, Elisabeth misses Kristina and cherishes her monthly overnight stay away from Villa Vinternatt at Kristina and Eirik’s house.