Book Review: We, The Drowned

We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen

This is a rare book in this age, and is all the more spellbinding for that. Spanning one hundred years in the life of a small town in Denmark, this extraordinary novel chronicles the lives of the people of Marstal who are all in some way bound to the sea. The story begins in the age of sail, and carries the reader through time to the day the Germans surrender to end World War Two. Each character introduced to the story is more powerful than the last, and events and places also come marvelously to life on every page of this nearly 700 page novel. Whether it is the life of schoolboys in Marstal, sailors unloading salt cod in Portugal, women managing their shipping companies, or a young Danish sailor looking for his father in the South Pacific, readers will be enthralled by these characters and their adventures as they come to life in this epic novel.

~ Linda