🔗 Share this article

During the early hours of the 7th of April 1990, a catastrophic blaze erupted on board the MS Scandinavian Star, a car and passenger ferry operating between Oslo and Frederikshavn. Inadequate crew preparedness along with malfunctioning fire doors aided the propagation of the fire, while deadly cyanide gas emitted from burning laminates led to the loss of 159 individuals. At first, the tragedy was blamed to a passenger—a truck driver with a record of fire-setting. Given that this individual also perished in the incident and was not able to refute the accusations, the complete facts regarding the disaster remained hidden for many years. It wasn't until 2020 that a comprehensive documentary revealed the fire was probably set intentionally as part of an fraud scheme.

Nordenhof's Literary Series: A Glimpse

In the first volume of Asta Olivia Nordenhof's epic series, the preceding volume, an unidentified protagonist is riding on a bus through the Danish capital when she observes an elderly man on the street. As the vehicle moves away, she experiences an “uncanny feeling” that she is carrying a part of him with her. Compelled to repeat the route in pursuit of him, the character enters a landscape that is both unfamiliar and strangely known. She introduces readers to Maggie and Kurt, whose connection is strained by the burdens of their conflicted histories. In the concluding section of that book, it is implied that the source of the character's disaffection may originate in a poor investment made on his account by a individual known as T.

This New Volume: An Unconventional Narrative Style

The Devil Book begins with an extended poetic passage in which the writer explains her struggle to write T's story. “Within this volume, two,” she writes, “we were meant / to follow him / from childhood up until / the evening / when he sat waiting for / the report that / the blaze / on the Scandinavian Star / had successfully been / ignited.” Overwhelmed by the task she has assigned herself and derailed by the global health crisis, she approaches the tale obliquely, as a form of allegory. “It occurred to me / that I / can do / whatever I want / so this / is my book / this is / for you / this is / an sensational story / about businessmen and / the devil.”

A narrative slowly emerges of a female character who experiences lockdown in London with a near-unknown person and over the course of those days relates to him what occurred to her a ten years before, when she accepted an offer from a figure who claimed to be the devil to grant all her desires, so long as she didn't question his motives. As the threads of the dual narratives become more interwoven, we start to believe that they are identical—or at the very least that the nature of T is multiple, for there are devils all around.

Another blaze is present: a passionate, magnetic dedication to literature as a form of activism

Pacts and Consequences: A Thematic Exploration

Classic stories teach us that it is the dark figure who makes bargains, not a divine being, and that we engage in them at our risk. But suppose the protagonist herself is the devil? A third storyline comes finally to light—the account of a young woman whose early years was scarred by mistreatment and who was placed in a mental health facility, under pressure to conform with social expectations or suffer further harm. “[The devil] understands that in the scenario you've created for it, there are a pair of outcomes: submit or stay a beast.” A alternative path is ultimately revealed through a collection of poems to the night that are simultaneously a rallying cry against the forces of wealth and power.

Parallels and Interpretations: From Fiction to Reality

Many UK readers of the author's series books will think immediately of the Grenfell Tower fire, which, though unintentional in cause, shares parallels in that the ensuing disaster and loss of life can be attributed at in part to the dangerous trade-off of putting profit over people. In these initial books of what is planned to be a seven-book series, the blaze on board the ferry and the chain of deceptive transactions that ended in multiple deaths are a sinister background presence, revealing themselves only in brief flashes of detail or implication yet casting a growing influence over all that transpires. Certain readers may question how far it is feasible to interpret The Devil Book as a stand-alone work, when its aim and significance are so intricately bound into a broader narrative whose ultimate shape, at this stage, is uncertain.

Experimental Writing: Art and Morality Intertwined

Some individuals—and I count myself as among them—who will become enamored with Nordenhof's project purely as text, as properly innovative literature whose moral and creative purpose are so deeply entwined as to make them inseparable. “Write poems / for we require / that too.” Another kind of blaze exists: an intense, magnetic devotion to the craft as a political act. I intend to continue to pursue this literary journey, no matter where it goes.