Stella Descending [Paperback]

Linn Ullmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2005

On a warm night in Oslo, Martin draws Stella into one of the risky games that have defined their ten years together: a balancing act on the edge of their rooftop, seven storeys up. Amid the shouts of horrified onlookers, Stella stumbles, falling for a moment into Martin's arms before plummeting to her death. Did he try to save her? This is the question that begins Linn Ullmann's transfixing tale of Stella: a jealous wife, compliant mistress, treasured friend, angelic nurse, unloved daughter, devoted mother, and - finally - a woman possessed of a secret now forever lost to the living.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One part unsolvable mystery, one part modern fairy tale, Ullmann's second novel is a wonderfully strange follow-up to 1998's well-received Before You Sleep. In the early morning hours of August 2000 in Oslo, the "more beautiful than beautiful" Stella and her enigmatic husband, Martin, embrace on the roof just before she loses her precarious footing and falls to her death. The three eyewitnesses-each with a curious connection to Stella-and Corinne, the investigating officer, who has the ability to smell guilt, aim to decipher the nature of the embrace: was it Martin's failed effort to save his wife, or a successful attempt to push her? Among Stella's mourners are her two daughters, 15-year-old Amanda (who refers to Martin, her stepfather, as a "wicked sorcerer") and young Bee, whose birth inexplicably disturbed her father, Martin: "Sometimes I would get it into my head that the baby was evil." The mysteries are myriad: how did Martin and Stella feel about each other? What were their true intentions? Does Martin's penchant for bringing out the worst in people ("Other people's contempt is so easily aroused") preclude him from loving his wife? As the only character who doesn't take a turn narrating the story-even Stella chimes in from beyond the grave-he forfeits his chance to defend himself. Ullmann pairs her native Scandinavian starkness with playful prose-often sexually graphic-to peculiar, pleasing effect. The oddness may be off-putting at first, but once one enters Ullmann's hypnotic world, the reward is an emotionally rich and layered story about the elusiveness of truth.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Eluding her husband's embrace, Stella fell from a rooftop to her death, leaving an empty space in several lives. Or perhaps the spouses struggled, and she was pushed. No eyewitness will commit to either version. Ullmann's droll, disturbing novel presents much interesting behavior but not much conventional analysis of motivation. Martin adored Stella but feared her as the mother of their young daughter, who haunts his dreams but is otherwise silent. Old Axel, a friend from Stella's hospital workplace, found in her the only person to tell his bitterest secrets to. Stella's teenage daughter from her first marriage blames Martin and obsessively plays a video game when she isn't seducing the plumber, who came to fix the hot water and never left, and is as much a member of the family as the avocado green couch that brought Martin and Stella together (he delivered it and never left). Ullmann regards this actually fairly conventional family with a theatrical eye, imbuing each scene with portent. In the end, however, Stella and her death remain mysterious. Roberta Johnson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Picador (January 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330411632
• ISBN-13: 978-0330411639
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,010,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, thought-provoking read!, January 2, 2005

By 

CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stella Descending: A Novel (Paperback)

I read and loved Before You Sleep five years ago and I cannot believe that I waited this long to read another Linn Ullmann novel. The Scandinavian author is known for writing strange, imaginative literature with a great deal of magic realism. Her novels are more fables than anything else. She has once again floored me with Stella Descending. This dark story set in Oslo, Norway, centers on the mystery surrounding a married couple. Martin and Stella are on a rooftop where she plummets to her death. No one knows how it happened. Did she lose her footing, or did her husband kill her? Further speculations begin. Were Martin and Stella happy? How do their children feel about their parents? Martin is quite an enigmatic individual. He neither admits fault nor defends himself against the allegations. What transpires is a disarming story that centers on marriage, family and fidelity (or lack thereof). There are a lot of twists in this novel.

Linn Ullmann uses different kinds of narrative throughout the novel. Even Stella narrates part of the novel after her death. Not only is the story told in various points of view, there are several stories within the story, fables as such, and has some rather bizarre magic realism and disarming erotica to boot. She did this with Before You Sleep, and it can be quite confusing if you don't follow the story. But that is what I love about this author. Ms. Ullmann writes with beautiful, stark prose. Her novels have a mixture of brutal truth and confounded metaphors. She is like Amanda Filipacchi in that she writes obscure, complex stories with magical realism and dark humor in the mix. This novel is though provoking to the max -- one that you will think about for days to come. I for one have placed this in my re-read pile. Are you in the bargain for a deep, literary read? I recommend Stella Descending.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars mystery-esque and character-driven: read in one sitting, January 5, 2004

By 

Suzanne Mcquade (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stella Descending (Hardcover)

Linn Ullmann seems to have a great talent for character development, and Stella Descending survives on that talent. The psychology of Stella, and the psychological testimonies of those who surround her and affect her eventual, final fate provide for a captivating, well-executed mystery-esque novel. Slightly reminiscent of "Smilla's Sense of Snow," but with more personal intrigue than physical adventure. An enjoyable read; great for one sitting.