Overall, what did you think of The Bell in the Lake? (no spoilers in this thread, please)

Overall, what did you think of The Bell in the Lake? (no spoilers in this thread, please)

I absolutely loved it! There are strong, convincing characters, even distinctive minor characters. The setting is almost a character itself. The conflict is multi-layered and raises many issues that are very relevant today, in particular the struggle to choose which aspects of the past should be preserved or rejected, and which aspects of the present are progressive, or not. I also loved the interweaving of myths and legends.

At first I didn’t think I would like the book, but as time progressed I loved it. The characters were well developed as well as the plot. I was sorry to see the story end.

I liked it for so many reasons! Probably the most important one is that it’s making me think about, and actually research, different countries’ histories and how it affects their current culture. This book has definitely motivated me to change my choices of “historical fiction” to include only countries I know little about!

I absolutely loved this book! I pre-ordered the next in the series, The Reindeer Hunters. Less than two weeks to wait to get back to Butangen and Astrid's son. This book was beautiful, haunting, sad, painful and hopeful. I'll be recommending it to my friends and lending out the book. Thank you, Overlook Press!

Like everyone else so far, I loved this story and plan to read the entire series as the books become available. I think what makes the book so absorbing to me is the mysterious setting, steeped in legend and in the undying past. I love the connections between present and past and into the future.

I loved the book, it was extremely well written with interesting characters and I loved the history. I knew nothing about the stave churches. I was amazed that the churches were relocated piece by piece. I am looking forward to # two in the series, actually have requested it from my library.

This was a wonderful book. I was hooked from the beginning with the legend of the conjoined sisters and the bells. The characters were beautifully developed, the story was fascinating, and the descriptions of the countryside through each season were breathtaking. I too knew nothing about the history of Norway and the stave churches. It was so interesting to see photos of the ones that remain or have been rebuilt. I lent the book to a friend and can't wait to get it back so I can revisit the passages I marked for rereading and discussion.

I thought it was a book worth reading, although a different type of story from what I usually read. It was hard for me to relate to at first, but I did end up getting pulled into the book and glad that I'd kept reading. It struck me that it showed the old biases and sexism of Church. That has not completely changed in modern days, at least in my experience.

I had to be patient. The first 50+ pages were painfully slow and I almost stopped reading the book. I loved the legends and myths that were part of the story. Characters were well developed and interesting. I'd highly recommend it to individuals that want to better understand a culture through reading historical fiction.

I enjoyed the book so much that I read it twice. I read Historical Fiction so I can learn something new. I enjoyed learning about the church and the hardships the weather imposed upon the residents. I marvel at the old ways of building and the intricate carvings decorating the church. The act of doing things by hand, be it carving, preparing food, or working a farm seems to imbue the work with so much meaning.

I loved this book as one of the best I've read in a few years. Many decades ago I spent time in Norway, spent a few days in Lillehammer and took a train ride through the southern part of Gudbrandsdalen to Trondheim. This book brought back the memory of the forests, deep valleys so difficult to traverse, the light, legends and language. I thought the characters in this book had depth with their independence, self sufficiency and perseverance. I love books where the landscape is so important as to be another character and this book provided that. I have already ordered the second volume in the trilogy as I couldn't bear for this book to end.

I agree that the book had a slow beginning. However, as the story progressed I was drawn in and couldn’t wait for the outcome to be revealed. It was so wonderfully descriptive. I am fascinated by the history of stave churches and feel strongly that I must travel to Norway in search of the few remaining structures. If you liked this book know that it is the first book in a planned trilogy. Book #2 is The Reindeer Hunters.

I loved this compelling story set in Norway. I learned about the hardships of living in a land that is so cold with a short growing season, about their poverty, and about food shortages. The characters including the restless, gutsy Astrid had depth. The beautiful stave church with the sister bells that were made in memory of conjoined twins and their mother felt like characters. The story showed the tension between making improvements or preserving traditions and buildings and about making decisions to relocate or to remain with family and familiar traditions. The book was filled with descriptions of the land and ways of doing things. Mytting wrote about burying people, who died in winter, in the spring when the frozen land had thawed, and he wrote an amusing account of how newly ordained pastors were assigned to their churches. I also learned about the importance of cultural history and how people in powerful positions use others for their gain. I’m looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.

For me, the stars of the book were the Stave church and,of course, the Schwestergloken. The surrounding story of the villagers was interesting. Gerhard was my favorite character and his relationship with Astrid gave a nice romantic story. Kai just irritated me all the time. It was not a page turner for me, I had to take breaks periodically--I think the mood was too moody with very little in the line of uplifting moments of light. Still, I did want to finish it and know what happened to the characters. Not sure I will continue the series, however. Having seen the Stave church in Morehead, Mo it was easy to envision the parts of the book that dealt with the church and its construction. Indeed, those sections made me want to go back to Morehead and look more closely at the edifice.

Loved this book and will definitely read the rest of the trilogy as it becomes available.

Wow! I’d not heard of a Stave church before reading this lovely story. The history of the churches and the beautiful descriptions of this remote, hard scrabble part of Norway is spellbinding. Absolutely love that the bells were made to commemorate the conjoined girls. Even the descriptions of villagers making their ways to church in the icy winters is compelling reading. This book gave me a peak into a world I’d never imagined. Truly glorious.

I’ve since enjoyed conducting some research about these beautiful structures. Love the mix of old myth, gods and modern Christianity.

I too had never heard of Stave churches and was amazed by the quality of their workmanship.Books have such power to broaden our knowledge base. But I definitely was not as enamored of the book as the other readers. I too found it a little slow in the beginning but overall it was depressing with the poverty and isolationism closing the people in. Astrid was indeed a ray of light with a definite spark. She was always reaching to learn and experience more of life.
I feel that the minister was living a life of quiet desperation: his lonely life was a constant struggle to improve the lives of his parishioners while struggling with how best to give them a new church without totally erasing their past.
I was struggling to answer the question about which paranormal happening resonated with me the most. I really couldn't decide because the cloying, depressed atmosphere of the book kept those happenings in the background for me.

I agree with the overall consensus here; I thought this was a fantastic, well-researched, atmospheric read! I haven't read a lot of Norwegian literature, so I learned a lot.

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I was hooked right at the beginning. Once I began, I did not want to stop reading. Although there was a lot of darkness in Bell Lake,I did not find it too dark or depressing. I think it just kept flowing, so I had no time to stop and analyze what I was reading.It was only after finishing a section, that I took to time to step back and examine what I had read. There is a richness in both the language and description this book. The only thing that perplexes me is how did I not know about it . It came out in 2020. Thank you so much BookBrowse
for sending a copy my way.

I enjoyed this book although I agree with some of the other readers that it took a while to get into. One word used to describe the book was 'atmospheric' and that is a very apt description. I had such a strong visual in my mind's eye of the village and its remoteness, which made the 'modern' elements feel almost suspenseful, as if a natural order was being threatened.

Like other readers it took a while for the story to grab me but, I'm really glad I stuck with it. Great descriptions give readers a visual of the story.

I found this book just okay. It started out really slow, and I stuck with it. However, I felt like the story read really herky-jerky and was grammatically awkward. This could be due to the fact that it is translated from Norwegian, but it made it difficult for me to get interested. The information about the stave churches and the culture was interesting, but at times the narrator's perspective felt juvenile and a even a little coquettish about certain descriptions. It wasn't the worst book I've read, but it definitely wasn't my favorite.

I finally finished the book and was happy that I had a chance to read it. I love books about places and times I know little about. Norway is one of those places that intrigue me. I also love books that have been translated because I stand in awe of translators who can capture the author's intent and make it appear to be in the author's original words. I agree with one reader who said it was awkward at the beginning, but I do think it was an easier read as it continued.

I went down a rabbit hole when I started exploring stave churches. The cold winters, the over populated villages, the poverty at this time in Norway was simply hard to fathom. It is no wonder that so many Norwegians immigrated to the United States.

I just wrote my 5 star review a moment ago, before coming back to this discussion and finding this question. I loved this book and doubt that my brief review does the book justice. Since I wasn't sure what a stave church was, I did some quick online research when the book first arrived . Additionally, I had never read a book by Lars Mytting before, so it was really fun to have this new and wonderful reading experience. I definitely plan to read more books by this author! Interesting characters, outstanding location description, universal emotions, and excellent translation. I praise the translation because I knew I was enjoying a story of a unique place by someone who knew it first hand while comforted by reading it in my own language. I feel so lucky to have received a copy of this book!

I truly enjoyed the book and have recommended it already to a few of my reading friends. I must say though that it was a hard read at times but I'm not sure it was because it is set in a time period and place that I am unfamiliar with or that it was the translation itself. At time the writing seemed awkward. Saying this though I still am happy that I read the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this storyline and have already recommended the selection to other readers. I stopped reading early in the narrative to look up information about Norway, stave church structures, and even relocation of these magnificent buildings for preservation purposes. To me, that is one of the benefits of impactful writing which leads the reader to investigate and appreciate the author's research. I have grand appreciation for Lars Mytting and his ability to guide the reader to a different time and place with such wonderful visual cues. I would love to see this story made into some level of screen presentation.

This ranks as one of the best books I've read in years (and I read 12-15 novels a month). So much so that I purchased his most recent novel "The Sixteen Trees of the Somme" (although from the blurb this does not seem to be the second book in the promised Bell in the Lake trilogy). I was immediately pulled in by the opening historical setup of the twins and the bells, and then could not put the book down as the story unfolded. The twists and turns! Above all, although there is a sense of the mystical, the story itself was realistic, and the characters were very well written and relatable, even when they were betraying one another.

Reading the book was challenging, but it had nothing to do with the book. I was sick when it arrived and wanted to get started reading...Brain fog mixed things up in the beginning, but I stuck with it, and I am glad that I didn't give up!

Mytting gave us a well written tale which is hard to pin down in time. His characters are well-developed as is the environment where the story takes place. The bells, the lake and the stave church have their own personalities without being animated beings, which is part of what makes the tale so amazing.

I will be looking for more to read by Lars Mytting.

This was a delightful read and I am so excited to have discovered the author and the fact that it is a trilogy! The excellent writing and suspenseful story was so enjoyable. I love stories that take you far away (in my case!) and stories that have lots of twists and turns, conflict and resolution. I really appreciated the vivid descriptions and the well-done character development. I am putting book two on my list for Santa!

I have been in a reading slump for quite some time. This novel was compelling & pulled me to it almost immediately; although I had several interruptions over the time I had the book, I always wanted to go back to the story. It is beautifully written story that drew me in fairly quickly. The characters, -- the priest, the architect, the young woman, the village, the lake, balls & certainly the church -- were depicted fully & were believable. I love a story that has me "Googling" a bit.

Total enjoyment. It was a very well written novel with a unique story line and interesting characters. I'm looking forward to the sequels to hopefully learn more about the Sister Bells and Astrid and Gerhard's children!

I actually read this with my book club and all the ladies liked it. Some thought the Norwegian names were a bit difficult, at least to pronounce, and a couple thought there was too much description in the beginning but realized later that the description was important later in the book. All in all it had a favorable response. I personally liked it a lot, I have been to Norway and I loved the description of the churches.