Into a star

Into A Star is Danish author Puk Qvortrup’s literary debut. The novel is an auto fictional, literary account of a tragic event that changed everything in the author’s life. The title comes from a love poem by the late Danish poet, Morten Nielsen. The 26-year-old and pregnant first person narrator, Puk, is in the kitchen of her apartment in Aarhus, Jutland. Her husband, Lasse, is out running a half marathon. Their little son is having a midday nap. She is enjoying making a cake for his two-year birthday party later that day. The phone rings. It’s a doctor from the hospital on the line. He informs her that Lasse has suffered a heart attack during the race. Puk throws down what she has in her hands, throws the child into the arms of a friend and takes a taxi to the hospital. The day after her husband dies without regaining consciousness. With this prelude, the tone is set for a personal odyssey which, in spite of the subject matter, is a page-turner. Yes, Into a star is about a death, but it’s a novel about life. “You taught me how to live,” says Puk to her late husband at his funeral, “I’ll need that gift now.” A moving and unsentimental novel about a young woman’s encounter with death and how she learns to live again.

About the author 

Puk Qvortrup (b. 1986) is a journalist. She has written author portraits for Weekendavisen and also features on art, gender and the body for Information and Kristeligt Dagblad. Into a star is her literary debut. She lives in Aarhus with her new husband and 3 children.

Text translated by Paul Larkin