If books allow you to escape into another world, Solvej Balle’s series goes further - it allows you both to escape and pause time, specifically on the 18th of November, heightening the reader’s senses.

I said in my review of Part I (shortlisted for the International Booker Prize) that I wondered how Balle would stretch the concept over seven novels. I am still wondering, but I did enjoy this second instalment, and found it inventive and again, strangely compelling.

In Part II, Tara is on a mission to build a year of seasons, by travelling to parts of Europe where the climate allows her brain to be tricked into thinking it’s winter, or spring or summer, and so on, when in fact, it’s yet another 18 November for Tara.

The book is short enough at 176 pages not to become too tiresome, and while it can be repetitive, it forces the reader to pause and listen and feel the sounds and tactilities (is that a word?!) of the passing seasons. And of course, it ends on a cliffhanger. Will I read part 3? Most definitely. 3.5/5 ⭐️

Many thanks to the publisher @faberbooks for the arc via @netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Part II of this series was published this week.

Tara Selter is still living the Eighteenth of November on repeat. In Volume II she has moved into the second year of reliving the same day. Rather than submitting to a Groundhog Day existence Tara realises that if the days won’t move forward, she can propel herself through the seasonal variation that normally comes as the days of the year pass. Tara uses travel and latitude to seek out the gradually changing weather that traditionally denotes the passing of a year from winter back to autumn via Spring and Summer. This is the seasonal variation around which humans adapt their day to day routines, the holidays, festivals, rituals that routinely mark the passage of a year. She travels northwards seeking early winter then deeper winter, before journeying south for Spring, then further south in search of Summer beaches, sun and heat. Whereas I found Volume I a mediation on the nature of existence, Volume II seemed more a meditation on the extraordinary nature of the human concept of time itself and how arbitrary that can be. Tara spends little time wondering why time has fractured and more time using her time to best effect. Once again huge congratulations to the translator for an excellent job. Excited to read the other five volumes and intrigued as to how the story can be kept fresh and moving forward. Special thank you to Faber & NetGalley for a no obligation advance digital review copy.

After reading Volume I of this cycle from Solvej Balle, I was very keen to read the second. Volume II doesn't disappoint. Tara Selter is still living the same day, the 18th of November, over and over again, and Balle uses this conceit to explore a variety of themes. This is superlative story telling, and I am fully committed to the series... The rest of which I hope is published. Another big thumbs up from me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I was very excited to receive an ARC from Faber and Netgalley for the next volume in this series as I had very much enjoyed the first but this was slightly disappointing. Tara is still trapped in an eternal repetition of the eighteenth of November and now tries a new strategy to attempt to move forward. She visits her family and persuades them to celebrate Christmas early which is quite successful in assuaging her loneliness but realising she cannot stay with them she decides to pursue the seasons, moving north in Europe to find winter and eventually turning south to find warmer weather. This prompts some interesting reflection on the impact of changing seasons which I found thought provoking.

She then begins some deep research into the Roman period which I found confusing. Her total absorption seems to help her mental state and some of the writing as she experiences life in Roman times is quite striking but I may have missed some deeper point here.

I am still confused by the way that some physical objects stay with her and others disappear. She seems to have accepted this and manages it practically, but as a reader I find it troublesome. Again, i may be missing a deeper point.

I am not convinced that releasing this in novella form does justice to the story but nevertheless I look forward to the next volume.

Just as impressive, intriguing, imaginative and gently infuriating (in the best way) as the first book. Loved the travels through Europe searching for seasons, which resonated strongly with me, as I think lots of us are using the sights and sounds of the changing year to deal with the modern world. I'm still as invested in Tara's strange new world as I was in the first book - and the ending of this one has me more intrigued than ever. Stunning.

This is the second book in the series (of 7 I believe!!). In this one, Tara goes in search of the seasons, travelling the world in search of spring, summer, autumn and winter in different countries. This is because she is still stuck in the Groundhog Day of November 15th. It is a lonely search and does not fulfill her needs as she hoped it would, leaving her at the end of the "year" at a loss. There is a teaser at the end which will lead us into the next volume. While the books are beautifully written, I am not sure I have the stamina to sustain my interest through seven volumes of the same. If things develop, and she begins to understand why this s happening, I will persist!

I enjoyed this second instalment even more than the first. I am not sure that is because it is a better book, but as always the atmosphere of it had something soothing and tragic at the same time. It also reads so easily and there is also the puzzle aspect of someone being caught in a loop that is always in the back of your mind.

<spoiler> It’s still 18 November for Tara – 365 days have passed but nothing changes on Day #366. She visits family, she travels a bit through Europe and then she realises she misses the seasons and tries to imitate the winter by going North and then the Summer by going South. Then there is a less convincing section drawing parallels between Tara’s situation and the Roman Empire…I never really got the analogy. And it ends with a major cliffhanger that makes me want to run to the library for Part III. </spoiler>