Delicately and deeply probes the mothers and their relationship.

Katie Kitamura, New York Times Book Review

Trondheim

In Norway, thousands of miles from home, a student drops dead on the street. A passerby revives his heart, but he remains in a coma from which he may never wake. His mothers rush across the continent to his bedside where they endure the strain of helpless waiting. As the tense hospital vigil continues day after day and they vacillate between extremes of hope, fear, and psychic pain, their troubled relationship is pushed to the edge.

A profound exploration of a family in crisis, Trondheim portrays the way each woman copes with the looming tragedy and the possibility of healing in the wake of a life-altering emergency.

New York Times “Editors’ Choice” selection

Kirkus Reviews “Great Books From Irish Writers” selection

LGBTQ Reads “Most Anticipated Queer Adult Fiction” selection

BookBrowse “Best Books Publishing This Week” selection

Foreword Reviews “Book of the Day” selection

Brooklyn Public Library “LGBTQ Pride Month” staff selection

cover image of Trondheim

Ebook

ISBN
9781954276246

Paperback

ISBN
9781954276239

Read an adapted excerpt from Trondheim in Harper’s Magazine and discover how Cormac James found his way into the novel at Granta.

portrait of Cormac James
Laurianne Bixhain

Cormac James is the author of three novels, including Trondheim and The Surfacing. Born in Cork, Ireland, he lives in Montpellier, France.

visit author page »

Praise for Trondheim

James’ elegant novel will leave [readers] shattered and uplifted.

Washington Independent Review of Books

Foster[s] profound reflections upon the characters’ individual and shared lives. . . . Poignant and prescient.

North of Oxford

Extraordinary and meticulous. . . . An X-ray picture of the subcutaneous breaks and sprains in a rocky relationship.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Compelling throughout. . . . Trondheim is an exquisite novel that explores maternal love, the price of hope, and how bodies endure.

Foreword Reviews

An intelligent character-driven story of a lesbian couple. . . . The end result is a poignant meditation on grief, perseverance, and the complications of love.

Publishers Weekly

A luminous tale of forgiveness, love, and hope.

Library Journal

My God but this author knows how to tell a story! . . . The narrative is so real—so believable—it’s as though the author has used a movie camera to film it all. Quiet hospital room, restaurant conversations, walks around town. Honestly, Trondheim is a literary treasure.

Linda Bond, Auntie’s Bookstore (Spokane, WA)