Review now available in Rain Taxi Review of Books: Volume 25, Number 3 Fall 2020 (#99) ( )

The Helios Disaster is a story of mental illness. It begins with a young girl being taken from her father and placed in foster care. Her father is diagnosed with schizophrenia, but this is all fractured in the telling. The girl sees herself as Athena, born from her father’s head, from his pain. She tries to reconnect with her father through surreptitious letters. She is with a foster family who cares for her but does not understand her in the slightest. This is all strange and we don’t ever get the answers to her “speaking in tongues” but actually in Greek. So is she Athena?

The second half finds her now in a mental institution where they treat her with pills and taking her for walks, getting her to do the activities of life that reinforce good health, getting dressed, taking a shower, and so on. Reading this felt very much like trying to understand mental illness. There is a logic to it, but it’s not clear.

I enjoyed The Helios Disaster but I didn’t understand it. My questions were not answered. It was short and read in one sitting. The narrative was compelling and I raced through it, though I felt confused nearly every minute of it. I think that was the point, but it was frustrating as a read.

I received an e-galley of The Helios Disaster from the publisher through Edelweiss.

The Helios Disaster at World Editions
Linda Boström Knausgård interview in the Guardian.

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2020/11/04/the-helios-disaster-by-li... ( )

This book begins with Greek mythology then combines foster care, Pentecostal religion and mental illness. It is unconventional, creative and uncomfortable writing. ( )

Athena, born out of her father's head, the book starts with this event but in modern Sweden. Told through this daughter's voice, the ambiguity of this in maintained throughout, through her placing with a foster family, through to time in a psychiatric institution. Above all, for me this book was about the intense and haunting writing, giving just enough to keep the reader both hooked but in the dark about the truth. This is the first book I've read from this publisher (World Editions, who focus on bringing Dutch literature to an English-speaking readership), and I will certainly be seeking out more based on this gripping and disturbing book. ( )