Nina Lykke's New Novel Asks: Who Bears Responsibility in the Family?

Norwegian author Nina Lykke's fifth novel "Where Are the Adults?" depicts a fractured relationship between a middle-aged mother and her adult son. The work is a sharp satire on contemporary family, the loss of parental authority, and responsibility in modern society.

Norwegian author Nina Lykke is known for her sharp, irony-filled prose style, and her fifth novel "Where Are the Adults?" is no exception. The book centres on a middle-aged mother whose adult son has decided to cut off contact with her.

Lykke addresses a sensitive theme in the work—the generational divide and the question of when a parent ceases to be an authority figure and becomes a burden to their child. The novel presents in satirical form the contradictions of the contemporary family, where adult children prioritise their emotional wellbeing over maintaining a relationship with their parents.

One of the novel's most striking scenes, which the title alludes to, is a situation in which a doctor refuses to prescribe sleeping pills to the protagonist because he considers her too emotionally unstable. This detail encapsulates the entire ironic core of the work—the question of who actually decides who is sufficiently "adult".

The novel has been acclaimed as a piercing portrait of an era in which the traditional concept of parental authority has undergone profound change. Lykke does not pass judgement on anyone, yet her characters painfully mirror recognisable situations for many readers.