Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
William Morrow Paperbacks (1999), Edition: 1st Edition, 320 pages
Description
A police lieutenant with the elite "Red Dogs" until she retired at twenty-nine , Aud Torvigen is a rangy six-footer with eyes the color of cement and a tendency to hurt people who get in her way. Born in Norway into the failed marriage between a Scandinavian diplomat and an American businessman, she now makes Atlanta her home, luxuriating in the lush heat and brashness of the New South. She glides easily between the world of silken elegance and that of sleaze and sudden savagery, equally at home in both; functional, deadly, and temporarily quiescent, like a folded razor. On a humid April evening between storms, out walking just to stay sharp, she turns a corner and collides with a running woman, Catching the scent of clean, rain-soaked hair, Aud nods and silently tells the stranger Today, you are lucky, and moves on--when behind her house explodes, incinerating its sole occupant, a renowned art historian. When Aud turns back, the woman is gone.… (more)
Media reviews
The Blue Place
The Blue Place was published in 1999. I could have sworn I read it much longer ago than that, but maybe I’m thinking of her first two novels, Ammonite and Slow River. Those are both science fiction (because strong women just aren’t believable in the real world, don’tcha know)
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and they are excellent, but it was The Blue Place that thoroughly thrashed me. Hard to explain what I mean by that.
Nicola’s hero — the word ‘heroine’ doesn’t do her justice — is the most amazing person I’ve ever run across in a book. Aud Torvingen is utterly unique. Smart, powerful, violent — just the kind of feminist hero that terrifies people.
This first Aud book is sometimes described as a thriller — Norwegian noir someone called it — but it is much more than that. It is a meditation on our plight, stranded as we are in this strange universe where to be different is always fraught with something or other. And where to be different gives access to ways of being that more conventional folks will never discover. I suppose they should be grateful for that.
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The writing in The Blue Place is clear and descriptive without overdoing the latter, which makes it easy to picture both the more pleasant parts (nature, sex, women, food) and the perhaps not so suitable for the squeamish parts (somewhat vivid descriptions of violence).
The pace felt appropriate,
If you're looking for lesbian main characters in a story where their being lesbian isn't made the focus and isn't tacked on as a token "and she likes women/is going to discover being attracted to women" either, this does the job.
The pace felt appropriate,
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with a good mix of suspense throughout the main plot. Hints towards a deepening connection between Aud and Julia reach a smoothly incorporated climax (even literally). Despite the main plot and although it might be a little predictable, the romance doesn't come across as conveniently forced in alongside everything else.If you're looking for lesbian main characters in a story where their being lesbian isn't made the focus and isn't tacked on as a token "and she likes women/is going to discover being attracted to women" either, this does the job.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member ckbrouwer
This is an absolutely fantastic book - tightly plotted, searingly emotional and unrelenting. I could not ut it down and I immediately read the next two in the series, finishing all 3 in 4 days. The best thing is that each one in the series is longer and better than the one before. I can't wait to
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see what happens if she writes another, and I sincerely hope that another in the series is in the works! Show Less
LibraryThing member ShellyS
A while back I read and reviewed the sequel to this one, Stay. I was surprised upon reading this that knowing how things turned out didn't ruin this one for me. The mystery was still fresh, and I hadn't realized that Aud doesn't know Julia, who she's mourning in Stay, all that long. So there were
Aud is one of the strongest female characters you can meet in fiction. Tall, physically capable, a trained cop skilled in martial arts, knowledgeable about more things that the average person, someone who can build furniture and repair homes, Aud has enough money to not need to work, a curiosity and need to stay busy that leads her to take work, and a closed off psyche. For all of her physical attributes, emotionally, she has plenty of room for growth.
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the details of how they met and came to love each other, plus all the wonderful descriptions of Atlanta and Norway. Griffith is a literary writer who immerses the readers in the details of a place to the point you can hear tires crunching on gravel or the birds singing overhead and smell the flowers blooming in Aud's garden or by the lake. You feel the cold when she's exploring the glacier in Norway and you feel her pain when she finally lets herself love someone with all the fear of losing that special someone.Aud is one of the strongest female characters you can meet in fiction. Tall, physically capable, a trained cop skilled in martial arts, knowledgeable about more things that the average person, someone who can build furniture and repair homes, Aud has enough money to not need to work, a curiosity and need to stay busy that leads her to take work, and a closed off psyche. For all of her physical attributes, emotionally, she has plenty of room for growth.
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LibraryThing member offsideher
I had high hopes for "The Blue Place" -- it does have quite a few good reviews, but in the end all I can do is classify this novel as just plain silly. When you thought it just couldn't get anymore ridiculous, you found that yes, indeed it could get more ridiculous...bravo for Griffith.
So what am I
First, the Aud character, apparently a complex soul -- introspective -- I don't know about anyone else, but if I spent my time thinking about how easy it would be for someone to slit my lovers throat, I hope that I also have the good sense to check myself into the crazy hut. I don't find that complex or introspective.
Second, the author manages to introduce several convenient events that make her flimsy plot plod along -- one of which, a message left on an answering machine, that literally made me sit up and say what's she doing this for ?-- Aud is framed as being smart -- so why is she so dumb at the most convenient moments, oh yeah, I need to setup my cheesy(might I say contrived) plot twist, so yeah no one will notice if she's dumb for a couple of paragraphs. My point, you actually can see the character stepping out of character to set up the plot -- not good.
Anyway, ultimately I found Aud to be a completely unredeemable character... not particularly likeable, not particularly a good butch, not too smart, although she does blather on and on like she is -- so when we get to the so called love story, yeah, typical dyke relationship, they fall in love after two hours of get to know ya, so that was realistic(ONE THING) -- and then they madly passionately love one another until the inevitable denouement, which happens two hours later, it's enough for a good chuckle and a she's got to be kidding, nope she's not -- I guess it is a great setup for Aud to be tortured and bug the hell out of us in the next book 'Stay' -- with her constant tutorial day dreams about how to die violently.
Well at least she dresses well -- hm, I wonder if her shoes are sensible?
Ah well I gave it 2 stars, I did manage to struggle to the end, even though I thought the ending was so ridiculous that it was a dream until I got to the last page and went -- hmph, maybe she was serious, THAT'S HOW IT ENDED, really... nahhh, you're serious.
I just can't find the strength to go on to 'Stay' -- I don't need anymore 'ridiculous' in my life.
Two stars, for the effort.
So what am I
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talking about?First, the Aud character, apparently a complex soul -- introspective -- I don't know about anyone else, but if I spent my time thinking about how easy it would be for someone to slit my lovers throat, I hope that I also have the good sense to check myself into the crazy hut. I don't find that complex or introspective.
Second, the author manages to introduce several convenient events that make her flimsy plot plod along -- one of which, a message left on an answering machine, that literally made me sit up and say what's she doing this for ?-- Aud is framed as being smart -- so why is she so dumb at the most convenient moments, oh yeah, I need to setup my cheesy(might I say contrived) plot twist, so yeah no one will notice if she's dumb for a couple of paragraphs. My point, you actually can see the character stepping out of character to set up the plot -- not good.
Anyway, ultimately I found Aud to be a completely unredeemable character... not particularly likeable, not particularly a good butch, not too smart, although she does blather on and on like she is -- so when we get to the so called love story, yeah, typical dyke relationship, they fall in love after two hours of get to know ya, so that was realistic(ONE THING) -- and then they madly passionately love one another until the inevitable denouement, which happens two hours later, it's enough for a good chuckle and a she's got to be kidding, nope she's not -- I guess it is a great setup for Aud to be tortured and bug the hell out of us in the next book 'Stay' -- with her constant tutorial day dreams about how to die violently.
Well at least she dresses well -- hm, I wonder if her shoes are sensible?
Ah well I gave it 2 stars, I did manage to struggle to the end, even though I thought the ending was so ridiculous that it was a dream until I got to the last page and went -- hmph, maybe she was serious, THAT'S HOW IT ENDED, really... nahhh, you're serious.
I just can't find the strength to go on to 'Stay' -- I don't need anymore 'ridiculous' in my life.
Two stars, for the effort.
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LibraryThing member jbeem
A spare, cold suspense thriller — Norwegian noir — with strong, enigmatic characters, rec by prof
LibraryThing member amf0001
I like mysteries set in unfamiliar cities, and The Blue Space gave a good sense of Atlanta, especially the bird life. The fact that I start the review talking about the birds points to the strengths and weaknesses of the book. The descriptions are very nicely done, and easy to read. The mystery was
I don't know why but the book didn't grip me. I started to drift and then skim and by then jump who pages. I didn't believe the entire Norway sequence, it's odd but the Atlanta passage felt far more real to me, the Norway parts never came alive. I found the end gripping, but would have liked to love the book more than I did.
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less enticing. I liked Aud Torvingen, the kick ass heroine. I liked that she saw the dangers of every situation, and the costs of that perception. I liked the fact that her sexual orientation was part of the book but not the point of the book. I guess how perfect she was pressed my buttons a little bit - the woodworking sequences somehow weren't real for me, and just reminded me of how some novelists make their charactres play jazz piano to show their other sides. It felt contrived. But that's a minor point.I don't know why but the book didn't grip me. I started to drift and then skim and by then jump who pages. I didn't believe the entire Norway sequence, it's odd but the Atlanta passage felt far more real to me, the Norway parts never came alive. I found the end gripping, but would have liked to love the book more than I did.
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LibraryThing member charmella56
This is very well crafted book with great characterisation, especially of course Aud. It gripped meright from the start and there aren;t that many books that do. Give it a try.
LibraryThing member satyridae
11/2012 The last time I read this book I didn't register that there's a whole paragraph devoted to Hild of Whitby. This time, because I read Griffith's blog and I know she's working on a huge book about Hild, it leapt out at me and I grinned.
It's hard to write about this one without spoilers,
6/2009 I love this book, with its hard-edged and icy prose, with its omni-competent but emotionally stunted protagonist, with its heart-wrenching plot twists. It's brutal, but it's also somehow comforting for me. I adore Aud in all her complicated, buttoned-up brilliance. I love how Griffith leaves all the right doors open, all the right things unresolved, and how beautifully she writes. This book is like a really bad cut with an extraordinarily sharp knife- you have no idea how far it's gone in until much, much later.
It's hard to write about this one without spoilers,
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because so much of it concerns how situations affect Aud, how her authentic self plays hide and seek, and how the events form the chains they do. The prose is spectacular throughout. 6/2009 I love this book, with its hard-edged and icy prose, with its omni-competent but emotionally stunted protagonist, with its heart-wrenching plot twists. It's brutal, but it's also somehow comforting for me. I adore Aud in all her complicated, buttoned-up brilliance. I love how Griffith leaves all the right doors open, all the right things unresolved, and how beautifully she writes. This book is like a really bad cut with an extraordinarily sharp knife- you have no idea how far it's gone in until much, much later.
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LibraryThing member JeremyPreacher
I was totally on board with this until I figured out how it was going to end. While I really enjoyed Aud as a character, it just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I know by now to avoid all gay fiction written in the 90s.
LibraryThing member bunwat
The prose was absolutely rivitingly lovely, the plot was a little bit wobbly, the characters were vivid but just a touch ubermenschie. I really really enjoyed it, but be warned, there's violence and darkness and there ain't no hollywood happy endings here. I am going to read the sequels.
Also this
Also this
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book made me want to go to Norway. Show Less
LibraryThing member andreablythe
"Danger is not a game. Danger is a casually violent Viking... When it sits opposite and offers you the cup and dice, you either walk away or play full throttle."
While out for a walk one night, former police officer Aud Torvington nearly slams into a women running in the opposite direction. As the
Aud is a fascinating character. On the one hand, she's a skilled fighter, capable of shattering bones with a thrust of her fist and comfortable with violence. Yet, she also has a cool quiet side that enjoys the contemplation of nature and the smooth honest work of carving wood or digging flower beds. In one moment, she can visualize a precise method she could kill the person she's politely talking to (more her reflection on how easily danger can shatter someone's life than an actual desire to act), and the next moment, she's watching the shrews battle in her backyard.
This is not a fast paced noir, with action around every corner. I mean there is plenty of tension and action in the right places, but there is also a lot of still moments. The result of this combined mystery and character study and romance is a fantastic, compelling read that has me eager to pick up the next book in the three part series.
While out for a walk one night, former police officer Aud Torvington nearly slams into a women running in the opposite direction. As the
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woman leaves a house explodes in a violent plume of flames. When the same woman later hires Aud to discover who set the explosion, she finds herself accepting the job, much to her own surprise.Aud is a fascinating character. On the one hand, she's a skilled fighter, capable of shattering bones with a thrust of her fist and comfortable with violence. Yet, she also has a cool quiet side that enjoys the contemplation of nature and the smooth honest work of carving wood or digging flower beds. In one moment, she can visualize a precise method she could kill the person she's politely talking to (more her reflection on how easily danger can shatter someone's life than an actual desire to act), and the next moment, she's watching the shrews battle in her backyard.
This is not a fast paced noir, with action around every corner. I mean there is plenty of tension and action in the right places, but there is also a lot of still moments. The result of this combined mystery and character study and romance is a fantastic, compelling read that has me eager to pick up the next book in the three part series.
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LibraryThing member macha
written as a prequel, this one feels more like a kind of flashback off Stay. and it's more the backstory of Aud and Julia than it is a mystery thriller (unmasking the perpetrator here feels like a 'oh, by the way' afterthought). so i'd be inclined to say it might be better to read Stay first, even
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though Stay chronologically comes after, and also reveals the Blue Place ending. but this one reads weaker as a standalone, because Stay is the source of much of its power. so if you read this one first, you might never read Stay. Show Less
LibraryThing member RealLifeReading
Aud rhymes with shroud. Aud rhymes with proud.
Aud Torvingen is a hell of a character. She’s six feet tall of toughness, danger, ass-kicking, emotionally complex, Scandinavian blondness. A Norwegian expat living in Atlanta, Georgia, Torvingen consults for the police (she’s an ex-cop), works as a
And I lapped all this no-nonsense up. In a move uncharacteristic of me, I read my way straight through Nicola Griffith’s three Aud outings – The Blue Place, Stay, and Always. (Perhaps a new goal for 2012? Just read! That is, why save to savour? Why not savour now?!)
It is difficult to talk about the plots of these three books without spoilers. So essentially it’s a crime series. Not that Aud is a PI or anything, rather, these cases seem to sniff her out. So with most crime/mystery series, there are dead bodies and women of interest (both in terms of the case as well as romantic interest).
One of the biggest surprises that these books had for me were Griffith’s way with places. A very plenty surprise for an armchair traveler like me. Aud travels home to Norway. It is gorgeous. Griffith makes me want to visit.
“It’s a land that doesn’t compromise. It’s snow, ice and darkness in the winter; and endless midnight sun, bright meadow flower and sweet green grass for two months in the summer. Black or white. On or off. Yes or no. It explains some of the way you react to what life throws at you, the pragmatic immediacy, the readiness – you never forget that there are trolls in the hills.”
I was especially taken with Vigeland Park, filled with sculptures by Gustav Vigeland.
“‘Why do you suppose his work was so large?’ she said to herself as we descended the steps slowly. She stopped before the woman washing another woman’s hair. ‘It’s intimate, almost sexual, and yet quite ordinary. I suppose that’s what he was trying to say: everything is ordinary.’
‘He was saying everything in life is special. Every moment is a gift.’”
Griffith’s way with places makes me even want to visit North Carolina, a place that has not been on my list of must-sees. But she describes the woods in which Aud crafts her cabin so mesmerisingly, that I feel a desperate need to step outside, to stand under the shade of a big leafy tree (wrong season I know!), to inhale some fresh air.
“From the roof of my cabin I can see only forest, an endless canopy of pecan and hickory, ash and beech and sugar maple. Wind flows through the trees and down the mountain, and the clearing seems like nothing but a step in a great green waterfall. Even the freshly split shingles make me think of water. Cedar is an aromatic wood; warmed by the autumn sunlight of a late North Carolina afternoon, it smells ancient and exotic, like the spice-laden hold of a quinquereme of Nineveh. It would be easy to close my eyes and imagine a long ago ocean cut by oars – water whispering along the hull, the taste of spray…”
Hard as nails. I’m not sure if I’ve ever used that phrase before but it is exceptionally suited to Aud Torvingen (If there were a film version, I would imagine that Tilda Swinton would be quite suited to the part). But it’s not all about kicks and asses and ass-kicking, Aud is a character who grows, learns, develops, who eventually becomes a different person from the one you first imagine her to be. And yet she manages to stay true to herself. Aud is quite unforgettable.
Aud Torvingen is a hell of a character. She’s six feet tall of toughness, danger, ass-kicking, emotionally complex, Scandinavian blondness. A Norwegian expat living in Atlanta, Georgia, Torvingen consults for the police (she’s an ex-cop), works as a
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bodyguard, teaches self-defense, crafts her own furniture, tends her garden, and constantly thinks about the best way to kill someone.And I lapped all this no-nonsense up. In a move uncharacteristic of me, I read my way straight through Nicola Griffith’s three Aud outings – The Blue Place, Stay, and Always. (Perhaps a new goal for 2012? Just read! That is, why save to savour? Why not savour now?!)
It is difficult to talk about the plots of these three books without spoilers. So essentially it’s a crime series. Not that Aud is a PI or anything, rather, these cases seem to sniff her out. So with most crime/mystery series, there are dead bodies and women of interest (both in terms of the case as well as romantic interest).
One of the biggest surprises that these books had for me were Griffith’s way with places. A very plenty surprise for an armchair traveler like me. Aud travels home to Norway. It is gorgeous. Griffith makes me want to visit.
“It’s a land that doesn’t compromise. It’s snow, ice and darkness in the winter; and endless midnight sun, bright meadow flower and sweet green grass for two months in the summer. Black or white. On or off. Yes or no. It explains some of the way you react to what life throws at you, the pragmatic immediacy, the readiness – you never forget that there are trolls in the hills.”
I was especially taken with Vigeland Park, filled with sculptures by Gustav Vigeland.
“‘Why do you suppose his work was so large?’ she said to herself as we descended the steps slowly. She stopped before the woman washing another woman’s hair. ‘It’s intimate, almost sexual, and yet quite ordinary. I suppose that’s what he was trying to say: everything is ordinary.’
‘He was saying everything in life is special. Every moment is a gift.’”
Griffith’s way with places makes me even want to visit North Carolina, a place that has not been on my list of must-sees. But she describes the woods in which Aud crafts her cabin so mesmerisingly, that I feel a desperate need to step outside, to stand under the shade of a big leafy tree (wrong season I know!), to inhale some fresh air.
“From the roof of my cabin I can see only forest, an endless canopy of pecan and hickory, ash and beech and sugar maple. Wind flows through the trees and down the mountain, and the clearing seems like nothing but a step in a great green waterfall. Even the freshly split shingles make me think of water. Cedar is an aromatic wood; warmed by the autumn sunlight of a late North Carolina afternoon, it smells ancient and exotic, like the spice-laden hold of a quinquereme of Nineveh. It would be easy to close my eyes and imagine a long ago ocean cut by oars – water whispering along the hull, the taste of spray…”
Hard as nails. I’m not sure if I’ve ever used that phrase before but it is exceptionally suited to Aud Torvingen (If there were a film version, I would imagine that Tilda Swinton would be quite suited to the part). But it’s not all about kicks and asses and ass-kicking, Aud is a character who grows, learns, develops, who eventually becomes a different person from the one you first imagine her to be. And yet she manages to stay true to herself. Aud is quite unforgettable.
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LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
I was really really sorry that I had accidentally read the sequel to this book (Stay) first! Knowing that a certain character is going to die took a significant something out of the experience... Still, this is an absorbing, exciting, and emotionally wrenching book...
Aud Torvingen, an ex-cop, is
But when Aud, by chance, comes across a scene of arson, and collides with a woman who's mysteriously running toward the burning house, she feels compelled to investigate... and finds herself drawn into a dangerous and treacherous web of crime spanning art fraud, money laundering, drug cartels and more...
Unexpectedly, she also finds herself falling in love...
Aud Torvingen, an ex-cop, is
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currently working as a self-defense instructor and bodyguard. Her current client is seemingly a cinch - a diplomat's daughter who needs 'more of a babysitter than a bodyguard.' But when Aud, by chance, comes across a scene of arson, and collides with a woman who's mysteriously running toward the burning house, she feels compelled to investigate... and finds herself drawn into a dangerous and treacherous web of crime spanning art fraud, money laundering, drug cartels and more...
Unexpectedly, she also finds herself falling in love...
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LibraryThing member laerm
I only got about a quarter into this. I was not enjoying it, finding it a real slog, and I eventually figured out why: I think the main character would have looked down her nose at me. Seriously, it's kinda ridiculous, but I was thinking that she would have been disgusted to know I was reading
And, a personal note for others like me: there are a lot of brand-name products called out in this book. Some people like this because it adds realism; personally, I find it distracting. The author's best efforts couldn't sell enough Saabs to keep them here, sadly.
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about her. She had such an air of superiority. I'm sure there's some backstory, some bad event in her past that made so her so distant and harsh, but, you know, at no point did I ever care to find out. Also, the tone of the novel too was stylized in an odd way: to be frank, it read like a novelization of a lesbian version of a mid-'90s late night Cinemax "erotic thriller." Perhaps in translation, too.And, a personal note for others like me: there are a lot of brand-name products called out in this book. Some people like this because it adds realism; personally, I find it distracting. The author's best efforts couldn't sell enough Saabs to keep them here, sadly.
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LibraryThing member susandennis
My favorite bookseller, JB, pushed this book into my hands and said 'trust me'. Some books you can easily categorize or 'sell' with a sentence or two but this one is not one of those. It is truly a 'trust me'. Aud Torvingen is a former policewoman who is independently wealthy. She is a native of
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England who is Norwegian and lives in Atlanta. One night while strolling she literally runs into a young woman just as the house she's passing by blows up. But the mystery part of this book is not as interesting as the characters who are really fascinating. I've just never read anything quite like it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Fence
When you read that a series of books are “brilliant and heartbreaking and made of awesome sauce and everybody should read them but go into them blind or you won’t get their full impact” (MartinWisse on Metafilter) well then you simply have to give the first book a try, don’t you?
Well, I did
I just loved this book. Aud is such a great character. I’ve skimmed through a few reviews on Goodreads1 and I just can’t get over how many people dismissing this as a “lesbian romance”, I mean, yes Aud is a lesbian. And there is romance, so both of those words are accurate and true. But would you usually describe James Bond as a straight romantic hero? I mean, he always gets the girl, doesn’t he? And that aspect is usually quite important in the story. But we never do, do we? Straight male authors who pursue a romantic storyline never get dismissed as just a romance. So why do so many people seem to do that when it is a female lead?
I will allow that this is more of a character study than a plot driven thriller or mystery. But I am perfectly fine with that. More character than plot is a plus for me. Your reading may vary.
I loved it and will be reading the sequel soon.
Well, I did
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and I have to agree with MartinWisse after just reading the first book in the series. In The Blue Place we are introduced to Aud Torvingen, an ex-police officer, the daughter of a Norwegian diplomat and an American father. Someone who grew up in England but is so very Norwegian. A woman who knows danger and violence and who always plays to win.I just loved this book. Aud is such a great character. I’ve skimmed through a few reviews on Goodreads1 and I just can’t get over how many people dismissing this as a “lesbian romance”, I mean, yes Aud is a lesbian. And there is romance, so both of those words are accurate and true. But would you usually describe James Bond as a straight romantic hero? I mean, he always gets the girl, doesn’t he? And that aspect is usually quite important in the story. But we never do, do we? Straight male authors who pursue a romantic storyline never get dismissed as just a romance. So why do so many people seem to do that when it is a female lead?
I will allow that this is more of a character study than a plot driven thriller or mystery. But I am perfectly fine with that. More character than plot is a plus for me. Your reading may vary.
I loved it and will be reading the sequel soon.
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Subjects
Awards
Lambda Literary Award (Winner — 1998)
Gaylactic Spectrum Award (Nominee — Novel — 1999)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1998
Physical description
8 inches
ISBN
0380790882 / 9780380790883