This Should Be Written in the Present Tense

Capturing what it feels like to be twenty-something and already disappearing, not with a bang, but with a slow exhale, This Should Be Written in the Present Tense reveals the particular paralysis of a young woman who can see her life clearly and still cannot move

Dorte is twenty-something, living in a suburb she didn't choose, with a man she may not love, doing work that means nothing to her. On the surface, everything is fine. Beneath it, something is slipping away, slowly, quietly, like a life half-lived. She remembers her ex, Per—the first boyfriend she tells us about, and the first she leaves—as she enters a new world of transient relationships, random sexual experiences, and awkward attempts to write.

This Should Be Written in the Present Tense is a novel of extraordinary restraint and startling emotional power. In Helle Helle's hands, the smallest moments—a cup of coffee, a walk to the shop, a conversation that trails off—carry the weight of a whole reckoning. She dropped out. Moved away. Settled. But settling, it turns out, is its own kind of slow collapse.

For readers of Tove Ditlevsen and Jenny Offill, this is Scandinavian literary fiction at its most quietly devastating, proof that you don't need drama to break a reader's heart."The quiet and immersive Scandinavian setting, a back-and-forth pace, and the charming, interruptible monotony of companionable narrator Dorte’s day-to-day life make Helle’s tale a natural choice for those who favor frame over traditional plot." —Booklist

"Helle Helle’s simple, to-the-point prose cuts to the quick…it’s refreshing to find such an intimate book that leaves something for the reader to writer in their own mind…This Should be Written in the Present Tense is a contemporary classic in the making' —Emma Nicklin, Stylist

"A book with all the bigness hidden away." —John Self, The Guardian

"Compelling." —Emerald Street

"There is so much in this book, so much hinted at and alluded to. So much going on off-screen. [...] One of the literary finds of the year." —Bookmunch

"A beautiful evocation of the reckless naïveté of the early years of adulthood. [Helle Helle's] pared back style gives the novel a haunting quality, exquisitely reflecting the detachment and doubts of the protagonist's life. […] This is a highly recommended introduction to the work of a talented new name on the European literary scene." —Book Trust

"Some pieces of literature, no matter how great an effort you make as a critic, cannot be opened or captured in a way that does justice to the work. That’s how I feel about Helle Helle’s new and unusually precious novel... Most of the sentences are small works of art, containing a whole story in themselves." —WeekendavisenHelle Helle published her first book in 1993. Since then, her work has garnered overwhelming critical and popular acclaim. Recently awarded the Golden Laurel literary prize, Helle Helle is the recipient of countless literary accolades, among them the Danish Critics’ Prize, the Danish Academy’s Beatrice Prize, the P.O. Enquist Award and the prestigious Lifetime Award of the Danish Arts Council. Her novels and short stories have been translated into fifteen languages. She lives in Denmark.

Martin Aitken is the acclaimed translator of numerous novels from Danish, including works by Peter Høeg, Jussi Adler-Olsen and Pia Juul, and his translations of short stories and poetry have appeared in many literary journals and magazines. In 2012 he was awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Nadia Christensen Translation Prize.