A Hundred Years

Style and Technique

Herbjørg Wassmo’s style in «A Hundred Years» is marked by subtle poetry and restrained emotion, with every phrase filled with inner tension and deep humanity. The language is rich in images of the northern landscape, laconic yet expressive, like the breath of wind over Norway’s rugged terrain. The author masterfully employs interior monologue, allowing the reader to enter the heroines’ innermost thoughts, and uses a fragmented narrative structure where time and space are woven into a single fabric of memory. Wassmo’s literary techniques include alternating voices, smooth transitions between generations, and the symbolism of everyday details, creating an atmosphere of authenticity and involvement. The novel’s structure resembles a mosaic, where separate episodes form a polyphonic family saga, and recurring motifs and images bind the women’s destinies into a single narrative about strength, vulnerability, and continuity.