Helle Helle

Martin Aitken

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This Should Be Written in the Present Tense

Helle Helle’s simple, to-the-point prose cuts to the quick…it’s refreshing to find such an intimate book that leaves something for the reader to writer in their own mind…This Should be Written in the Present Tense is a contemporary classic in the making

Helle has enchanting gifts as a storyteller... This Should Be Written in the Present Tense possesses an immediacy that tenderly and consistently compels.

This Should Be Written in the Present Tense may sound like just another bildungsroman, but it’s surprisingly devoid of ego, and deeply thoughtful

There is so much in this book, so much hinted at and alluded to. So much going on off-screen. [...] One of the literary finds of the year

A beautiful evocation of the reckless naïveté of the early years of adulthood. [Helle Helle's] pared back style gives the novel a haunting quality, exquisitely reflecting the detachment and doubts of the protagonist's life. […] This is a highly recommended introduction to the work of a talented new name on the European literary scene

Helle Helle is a star in her native Denmark but hasn’t been translated into English until now – on this evidence she’s worth the wait

I found myself utterly mesmerised by this little novel about the seemingly commonplace. It’s stark minimalism is beguiling

Helle Helle is a beautiful stylist. This Should Be Written in the Present Tense has an atmosphere that is deeply mysterious whilst staying entirely naturalistic – reminiscent of some of the less far out works of Marguerite Duras or Anna Kavan

It would be easy to dismiss this as a novel where nothing happens. Yet anyone can relate to Dorte’s purposelessness: “I didn’t know what to do with myself, or how to go on.” Ultimately, though, it’s a hopeful story: a reminder that it’s never too late to change

Helle Helle is a real talent and This Should be Written in the Present Tense is one of the literary finds of the year

Some pieces of literature, no matter how great an effort you make as a critic, cannot be opened or captured in a way that does justice to the work. That’s how I feel about Helle Helle’s new and unusually precious novel... Most of the sentences are small works of art, containing a whole story in themselves

This Should be Written in the Present Tense is an excellent novel, yet another sleek and nonchalant masterpiece from Helle Helle

Helle Helle has written a captivating novel about Dorte Hansen, who sleepwalks through life, letting chance rule

A beautifully intimate novel from award-winning Danish novelist, Helle Helle 
 
This should be written in the present tense. But it isn’t. 
 
Dorte should be at uni in Copenhagen. But she’s not. 
 
She should probably put some curtains up in her new place. 
 
And maybe stop sleeping with her neighbour’s boyfriend. 
 
Perhaps things don’t always work out the way they should.

A beautifully intimate novel from award-winning Danish novelist, Helle Helle

*Nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2015* 
 
‘Why does one always read Helle Helle’s books about the seemingly humdrum lives of lonely, sleepless women in the back of beyond with the kind of obsession normally reserved for well-turned thrillers?’ Politiken 
 
Helle Helle is arguably Denmark's foremost contemporary novelist and its most popular. She has been awarded many prizes, including the Danish Critics’ Prize, the Danish Academy’s Beatrice Prize, and the P.O. Enquist Award. She was recently given the Lifetime Award of the Danish Arts Council. 
 
Her work has been translated into thirteen languages. This is her first novel to be translated into English. 
 
Martin Aitken is the acclaimed translator of numerous novels from Danish, including works by Peter Høeg, Jussi Adler-Olsen and Pia Juul, and his translations of short stories and poetry have appeared in many literary journals and magazines. In 2012 he was awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Nadia Christensen Translation Prize.

This Should Be Written in the Present Tense

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