Why a Booktrail?
2000s: One woman’s journey in search of herself when there’s no one to ask for directions.
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal
What you need to know before your trail
Sonja’s over forty, and she’s trying to move in the right direction. She’s learning to drive. She’s joined a meditation group. And she’s attempting to reconnect with her sister.
But Sonja would rather eat cake than meditate. Her driving instructor won’t let her change gear. And her sister won’t return her calls.
Sonja’s mind keeps wandering back to the dramatic landscapes of her childhood – the singing whooper swans, the endless sky, and getting lost barefoot in the rye fields – but how can she return to place that she no longer recognises? And how can she escape the alienating streets of Copenhagen?
Travel Guide
Copenhagen
A driving analogy and a story with symbolism aplenty. If you get stuck in life, reverse yourself into a corner…take the wrong direction…what do you do?
“mirror” – take a good look at yourself;
“shoulder” – remember where you came from
“signal” – figure out what is going to make a difference to move on
Sonja needs to learn to drive in this way inorder to move forward and driveon…
Balling
Back home in Balling, folks were driving souped- up pickups , burning rubber, off-roading. All those accidents the adult Kate now fears are things she’d flourished in as a teen. She’d been a stowaway in rolling wrecks, a barn dance femme fatale, and the belle of clubs and gym meets.
In Balling, cars would slinks along the road behind the church …
Frederiksberg
It’s difficult to maintain boundaries in an automobile. When you’re a driving student, you have to relinquish free will, and once Jytte forced her to over take a hot dog car.
They drive up Istedgade amid glistening shoals of bikes. Sonja’s vision is a god and she almost can’t breathe, yet at the intersection by Enghavevej she managed a left turn pretty much on her own.
She thinks about the dead prime ministers in the cemetery.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Mirror, Shoulder, Signal
Destination : Copenhagen Author/Guide: Dorthe Nors Departure Time: 2000s
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