The House of Salmon

After a discussion with his chef about the taste of wild versus farmed salmon Marcel, the owner of the restaurant L’Ange perdu, decides to investigate. He travels to Norway to visit a salmon farm. During his stay there, he hears that his mother has died. When clearing up her flat he realises with a shock that she, who he’s always rebelled against, is the only one that can help him to discover who he is. And that he barely knows her. He has to invent every last scrap of her to give himself a past. Meanwhile, his ambitious chef is taking control of the restaurant. With all the consequences this entails.

‘The House of Salmon’ seamlessly links to the novels that Reugebrink has published previously. All of his books concern changes in the life of the individual and society. In this novel as well, Marcel is a focal point of societal evolution, struggling to find his own direction in the current that was marked out by his parents. ‘The House of Salmon’ is a novel about people living within a tradition who are tempted to turn this tradition into an absolute law.