Music for the Third Ear

Book excerpt: Seeking asylum from distant conflict in Eastern Europe, Zheljka and Mesud are given refuge in Norway at the home of Hans Olav and Mette. Their arrival has profound consequences. Apparently settled into a childless middle age, Mette revisits her own unresolved family history in her frantic desire to establish a connection with Zheljka. All the while, Mesud and Zheljka try to reinvent their love for each other in the aftermath of a brutal war. Both families struggle to acknowledge the unspoken pain in their lives as Zheljka's child, unwanted but not unloved, becomes the focus of a drama in which each of them will share.