I Read Stories: Oslo In The Summertime by Gretchen Tessmer

 

Oslo In The Summertime by Gretchen Tessmer in Bourbon Penn

Danielle is a nanny to a wealthy Pakistani family in Oslo. Her mother is a convicted sea-sorceress, under house-arrest back in France. It’s her day off and she’s late to her dance class, so when she detects a monster, she just warns the waitresses at the corner café. Obliquely using lines from Beowulf.

They’re members of the monster-hunting order of the Valkyrie. But how did she know that? And what does she mean. One of them is afraid of spiders. Danielle has to take a call from her mother. And the kids are playing pirate ship, which may be more important than anyone thinks.

Read This: For some part-time monster-hunters trying to get on with their day
Don’t Read This: The mixture of gut-wrenching danger to children and the breezy personal problems of young women is not for you

Update: On twitter Lauren Bolger pointed out that this made her think of the song Oslo In The Summertime by Of Montreal which I had never heard. Anyway the lines "I practice my Norwegian on poor befuddled waitresses," and "The streets are strangely quiet/Because everyone's on holiday," are pretty on the nose and the case is closed by the specificity of "Pakistani children play/ locked inside the courtyard all day."