The Bell in the Lake

Lars Mytting

Mar 2020 · Bolinda · Narrated by Roger May

About this audiobook

Norway, 1880. In the secluded village of Butangen at the end of the valley, headstrong Astrid dreams of a life beyond marriage, hard work and children. And then Pastor Kai Schweigaard comes into her life, taking over the 700-year-old stave church with its carvings of pagan deities. The two church bells were forged by her forefather in the 16th century, in memory of conjoined sisters Halfrid and Gunhild Hekne, and are said to have supernatural powers. But now the pastor wants to tear it down, to replace it with a modern, larger church. Though Astrid is drawn to him, this may be a provocation too far. Talented architecture student Gerhard Schonauer arrives from Dresden to oversee the removal of the church and its reconstruction in the German city. Everything about elegant Schonauer is so different, so cosmopolitan. Astrid must make a choice: for her homeland and the pastor, or for a daunting and uncertain future in Germany. Then the bells begin to toll ...

About the author

Lars Mytting, a novelist and journalist, was born in Fåvang, Norway, in 1968. His novel The Sixteen Trees of the Somme was awarded the Norwegian National Booksellers’ Award and has been bought for film. Norwegian Wood has become an international bestseller and was the Bookseller Industry Awards Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2016. His novel The Bell in the Lake was a #1 bestseller in Norway and nominated for the Norwegian National Bookseller’s Award 2018.

Roger May is a British actor, director and voice artist. He has recorded over 100 plays for radio and numerous audiobooks, and appears in the cartoon series Peter Rabbit and Sarah and Duck. Roger has played James Bellamy in the BBC Radio 4 play The Archers for over a decade, and has performed extensively in theatre across the UK and internationally. His many film and television credits include The Scarlet Tunic, An Ideal Husband, Endeavour, Father Brown and Doctors.