Every family has its own version of the past.
Lily, a PhD student in visual cognition from Hong Kong, is pursuing her doctorate in Oslo. She has always kept the world at a careful distance, until she falls for Håvard, a church organist deeply versed in Bach and theology, but unable to face conflict.
When Håvard's estranged daughter cuts off the family, Lily brings her back. It should be a reconciliation.
Instead, Lily steps inside a family held together by silence, financial leverage, and a rumour no one dares name. Everyone knows a different part of the past. As Lily moves closer to the truth, her presence threatens the structure that has survived by keeping it buried.
Running through the novel is another current: Lily's observation of religious faith and ritual. Through biblical stories, prayer, worship, and Håvard's intense devotion, she begins to question obedience, sacrifice, control, and personal freedom. Something more unsettling also emerges: does faith give people the courage to face life, or can it sometimes offer a refuge from the very things they find hardest to confront?
When every door into the past opens onto a different room, can an outsider ever truly belong?
