“Satisfying and emotionally rich . . . Ms. Hustvedt’s cerebral characters are tenderly drawn, wise, and realistic. With a sure hand, she communicates both the intellectual dynamism of New York—where ‘talk is a form of play’—and the blank endlessness of the Minnesota landscape. The result is a beautifully sincere examination of the grim traps of overactive minds.”

—The Economist

“Hustvedt continues, with grace and aplomb, her exploration of family connectedness, loss, grief, and art.”

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Hustvedt writes spectacular sentences that embody the American experience in brilliantly specific physical imagery.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“This novel is easily described as wonderful, although, like a lot of great novels . . . you have to read it to believe it. The Sorrows of an American does have a lot of plot, but that is not the main attraction: its beauty lies in the ability of the narrator to reveal the frailties of the human mind. . . . Her skill lies in convincing the reader that we have seen right inside someone’s soul.”

—The Observer (London)

“[The Sorrows of an American] brims with luminous, unknowable characters . . . a book about memory and loss, about how we reconstruct our pasts through our families and how we continue to rewrite them for our present selves. It’s also about the gap between what we think we know about someone close to us, and how much more there is that we can never know.”

—Scotland on Sunday

“A mystery story that develops into a subtle and complex novel . . . Hustvedt switches gracefully between her characters, involving them in each other’s webs of grief and secrecy, confession and anger, lust and need. She weaves together family saga, comedy of manners, and gothic horror. . . . With great skill, she shows inner and outer worlds colliding with and penetrating one another.”

—The Sunday Times (UK)

“A profound analysis of how loss and the fear of living are the roots of Erik’s depression. What begins as a baffling puzzle ends on a movingly optimistic note. . . . Warmly recommended.”

—Daily Mail (UK)

“A masterful semi-self-portrait, by turns abstract and realistic, intimate and alienating, effulgent and bleak, concise and blurry, straightforward and elusive—but the author couldn’t have it any other way.”

—The Times (UK)

“An intriguing novel of suspense, beautifully combined with a melancholic treatise on memories and loss.”

—Psychologies (UK)

“For all its cerebral riches, this novel is composed with superb artistry. Hustvedt handles the numerous interlocking narratives with immense skill. From the rural farm during the Depression to urban New York, every life is revealed with precision and love. . . . It is proof of Hustvedt’s talents that the terrors of this novel feel real.”

—Literary Review (UK)