Asta Olivia Nordenhof

Money to Burn Asta Olivia Nordenhof

In the aftermath of a national disaster, a couple look back on their marriage and what it cost them in this groundbreaking novel about capitalism's effect on the human heart. A Guardian best translated fiction of 2025. Money to Burn is the first volume of the Scandinavian Star series, a new masterpiece of Danish literature. Maggie and Kurt are struggling to hold their marriage together after their only daughter has left home. They live in an old farmhouse in Nyborg but somehow keep missing each other, unable to discuss the events that brought them together. Decades ago, a passenger ferry called the Scandinavian Star caught fire, killing 159 people. The event is still considered a national tragedy in Denmark and Norway. Years later, it was revealed not to be an accident, but the result of an insurance scam gone wrong. How is the Scandinavian Star disaster connected to Maggie and Kurt? How does money affect and infect our closest relationships? And is it ever possible to escape? 'Like a normal novel with the boring bits taken out.' Guardian. 'Buzzes with electricity ... intriguing, maddening, exciting. I'm in.' - Observer. 'Taut and intelligent ... a moving love story and an incendiary indictment of contemporary society.' - Literary Review.