I’m Going to the Sheep

Simone and Andrej have lived for many years in a house on the edge of a sparsely populated village, looking out on their sheep barn. Their daughter Tove is an artist and she rarely visits. Not far away lives their only friend, Rocco, a funeral director with whom they try to solve mathematical riddles each week. Simone has a congenital condition that means her bones are literally fragile. It dictates that she has to lead a ‘limited’ life that depends upon habits and minor diversions. Andrej is home every day too now, having lost his job as an engineer. He eats chocolate at all hours and often seeks out the company of the sheep in their barn.

In ‘I’m Going to the Sheep’ we look at the couple’s small world over a period of two weeks. Simone’s mother dies; Tove prepares an exhibition. Events large and small are set side by side. Not much is said and problems are bottled up, but beneath the surface is a richer inner world than its external features would suggest. The quietude speaks volumes, the silence of the characters is multifaceted. Shimmering through the daily routine the reader can detect fairy tales, magic realism and a touch of absurdist humour.

The form of the book is exceptional too. In the many blank spaces the tension between telling and keeping silent comes into its own. For the attentive reader there is much to discover here. Simone and Andrej slowly win you over, through the great suggestive power of this sparely written book. De Maré succeeds in touching a sensitive chord with her poetic parable about life, parenthood and love.