Undergrowth
Undergrowth is Christian Jungersen’s first novel. It won the Best First Novel award in Denmark and became a Danish bestseller.
Paul and Eduard are high-school classmates and best friends in Copenhagen of the tumultuous 1920s. They experience the Gatsby era at its peak, partying while their wealthy parents discuss whether women should have the right to vote and whether Denmark should sell its Caribbean colonies to the United States.
Sixty-five years later Paul has heart surgery, and he is determined to see Eduard again before he dies. But Eduard has led a shady life, and tracking him down proves almost impossible.
Paul’s relatives start to grow anxious about the dying man’s obsession. What exactly transpired between the two former friends? The loss of Paul’s only child, Louise, is somehow involved. Is Paul, as he claims, looking to reunite with the closest friend he’s ever had – or is he planning to take final revenge on the man who later turned out to be a pathological liar and his worst enemy?
“The Danish title Krat, not yet published in English.”