
On the Calculation of Volume III
'Thrilling . . . humming with new possibility' Observer
Solvej Balle(Author)
Faber & Faber (Publisher)
Published on 20. November 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-0-571-38342-9 (ISBN)
Description
The third volume of the Booker-shortlisted masterpiece about a woman lost in time.
WINNER OF THE NORDIC COUNCIL PRIZE
'Absolutely, absolutely incredible.' Karl Ove Knausgard
'A total explosion.' Nicole Krauss
'Extraordinary.' Daisy Johnson
'Unforgettable.' Hernan Diaz
'Breathtaking.' Chetna Maroo
'Absolutely marvellous.' Lauren Groff
Tara Selter is no longer alone.
I have met someone who remembers. Yesterday. That is to say, I met him yesterday. But he remembers yesterday, too. He remembers that we met yesterday.
Tara Selter has lived the eighteenth of November 1,143 times when she notices a break in the pattern: a man has changed his shirt. The man is Henry Dale, and he remembers all the days that have come before. He knows that time has fallen out of joint. Now they are two of a kind - trapped in the eighteenth of November, but no longer alone.
Together they learn to share their present; their voices grow hoarse recounting their small battles against it and their bewilderment at the disintegrating world. Henry sees things differently to Tara: he does not think that time will put itself back together and he does not think that the future will come around. But he makes her realise that she is no longer the same person she was before this fault in time. And he makes her believe that there may be others to find within it.
A New York Times notable book of 2025
WINNER OF THE NORDIC COUNCIL PRIZE
'Absolutely, absolutely incredible.' Karl Ove Knausgard
'A total explosion.' Nicole Krauss
'Extraordinary.' Daisy Johnson
'Unforgettable.' Hernan Diaz
'Breathtaking.' Chetna Maroo
'Absolutely marvellous.' Lauren Groff
Tara Selter is no longer alone.
I have met someone who remembers. Yesterday. That is to say, I met him yesterday. But he remembers yesterday, too. He remembers that we met yesterday.
Tara Selter has lived the eighteenth of November 1,143 times when she notices a break in the pattern: a man has changed his shirt. The man is Henry Dale, and he remembers all the days that have come before. He knows that time has fallen out of joint. Now they are two of a kind - trapped in the eighteenth of November, but no longer alone.
Together they learn to share their present; their voices grow hoarse recounting their small battles against it and their bewilderment at the disintegrating world. Henry sees things differently to Tara: he does not think that time will put itself back together and he does not think that the future will come around. But he makes her realise that she is no longer the same person she was before this fault in time. And he makes her believe that there may be others to find within it.
A New York Times notable book of 2025
Reviews / Votes
'What the best novels can do is open up spaces. And she has opened a space in time, and it is absolutely, absolutely incredible.', Karl Ove Knausgard'A total explosion; Solvej Balle has blown through to a new dimension of literary exploration.', Nicole Krauss
More details
Series
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 214 mm
Width: 137 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
230 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-571-38342-9 (9780571383429)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Solvej Balle made her debut in 1986 with Lyrefugl (Lyrebird.) She went on to write one of the 1990s' most acclaimed works of Danish literature, Ifolge loven (According to the Law: Four Accounts of Mankind translated by Barbara Haveland.)
Jennifer Russell and Sophia Hersi Smith are based in Copenhagen. Their translations include My Work by Olga Ravn and There Lives a Young Girl In Me Who Will Not Die by Tove Ditlevsen. In 2020, they were awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation's Translation Prize.
Jennifer Russell and Sophia Hersi Smith are based in Copenhagen. Their translations include My Work by Olga Ravn and There Lives a Young Girl In Me Who Will Not Die by Tove Ditlevsen. In 2020, they were awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation's Translation Prize.