Shamed schoolteacher, Mathilde, moves to a dairy farm in the Norwegian countryside for an ‘easier life’, but she’s soon up to her old tricks … upending and unsettling the lives of two reclusive farmers. Exquisitely written, razor-sharp and simmering with an unexpected tension, Toxic marks the return of one of Norway’s finest writers…

'Flatland has the gift that I most often covet in the work of other writers: the ability to make everyday events compelling … how the quietest existence can brim with urgency and drama' Ann Morgan

‘Helga Flatland writes with elegance and subtle humour' Daily Express

‘The author has been dubbed the Norwegian Anne Tyler and for good reason’ Good Housekeeping

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When Mathilde is forced to leave her teaching job in Oslo after her relationship with eighteen-year-old Jacob is exposed, she flees to the countryside for a more authentic life.

Her new home is a quiet cottage on the outskirts of a dairy farm run by Andres and Johs, whose hobbies include playing the fiddle and telling folktales – many of them about female rebellion and disobedience, and seeking justice, whatever it takes.

But beneath the apparently friendly and peaceful pastoral surface of life on the farm, something darker and more sinister starts to vibrate and, with Mathilde’s arrival, cracks start appearing … everywhere.

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Praise for Helga Flatland

‘The most beautiful, elegant writing I’ve read in a long time’ Joanna Cannon

'Helga Flatland writes with such astuteness about families' Prima

'I absolutely loved its quiet, insightful generosity' Claire King

'So perceptive and clever' Rónán Hession

‘Thoughtful and reflective' Observer

'A beautifully written, bittersweet, moving and poignant … a wise novel of great insight' NB Magazine

‘Poignant and beautifully written … The prose and style, with the dialogue enveloped in the narrative, is intimate, evocative and moving’ Kristin Gleeson

'I love the sophistication, directness and tenderness of this book' Claire Dyer

‘The most satisfying book that I've read in a long time … masterful' Sara Taylor

‘A moving and exquisite read' Shelan Rodger