Zero

I tell her Ive stopped taking my pills
I write that Im still not well, that its making day-to-day life difficult
That I often do things I regret, and that theres some sort of membrane between what I want to do and whatever I end up doing
That I really want to be an actor, but that its a dream that seems all too distant for the time being
I tell her I use and abuse alcohol and drugs, and that Ive got a death wish that sometimes becomes difficult to ignore
That I dont know who I am
That I change my mind as frequently as I change my socks
That Im horrible to the people around me
That my sex life is depraved
Gine Cornelia Pedersens début novel won the prestigious Tarjei Vesaas First Book Award in its native Norway upon publication and went on to

garner numerous glowing reviews, with major broadsheet Aftenposten declaring Sometimes, as a reviewer, one forgets a works failings and

mistakes and becomes completely absorbed by an insistent narrative voice. Thats the case with Gine Cornelia Pedersens début, a firework out of control: sparks fly all over the place and the rocket could strike anywhere – and does…

Elsewhere described by the Norwegian press as like listening to a punk-rock single, Zero finds its young, female protagonist constantly torn

between hope and despair, rage and confusion, as she tries to find her place in and, eventually, far outwith, society.