The Sea Palace

The Sea Palace tells the story of Noor, who flees to Denmark with her father and brother but has to leave her mother in Syria. On the journey they lose her little sister to the sea. During the day she goes to school and plays with her new friends, but at night she’s given superpowers and sets out on dangerous missions to Syria, hoping to save her mother from the war. Her greatest achievement is to build a large palace on the sea floor, where the drowned can wait until they no longer need to remain in the sea.

In The Sea Palace, Anne Lise Marstrand-Jørgensen has written a beautiful and moving but also warm and humorous book that will give children and adults alike plenty of food for thought, prompting some good conversations about a difficult subject that has become a major part of our everyday lives and the news we consume.

Anne Lise Marstrand-Jørgensen does what she does best. The Sea Palace is a subtly powerful, almost unbearable glimpse into Hell and its surroundings.

The book navigates a fine balance between Danish everyday life – school, friends – and the various disruptions in the form of dreams, flashbacks and the choppy Skype connection with the girl’s mother, who stayed behind. Anne Lise Marstrand-Jørgensen knows you shouldn’t take hope from children – but it’s not easy in this world.

Politiken

A magical and exciting tale.

Weekend Avisen

Utterly dazzling. 6/6

Berlingske