Title: The Princes of Pauper’s Pond
Author: Lars Elling
Translator: Don Bartlett
Genre: Historical Literary Fiction
Publisher: Orenda Books
Publication Date: 24th September 2026
Rating: 4.5/5
Cover:
Summary:
1985. Nineteen-year-old Filip spends his days playing football, listening to music on his Walkman and drawing, searching for something he cannot yet name. He lives in a large family house shared with his grandparents, where an old rift between his grandfather Arnstein and Arnstein’s brother Truls still governs the atmosphere. The cause appears trivial, an apple tree dropping fruit across a boundary fence, but the bitterness between the brothers speaks of something far older and deeper.
1912. With Europe on the brink of upheaval, Arnstein and Truls are sent into the forest for the summer by their stern father, determined that his sons should learn to endure hardship. Left to fend for themselves among travellers, log drivers and Forest Finns, the brothers live from the land, fishing, hunting and roaming the vast woodland. Cold and hungry, yet bound together by fierce loyalty and affection, they crown themselves the princes of Pauper’s Pond, rulers of a world shaped by freedom, imagination and shared struggle. Until, back home, their father makes a decision that will change everything.
Spanning generations, The Princes of Pauper’s Pond is a vibrant, magical and deeply affecting novel about brotherhood and belonging, about finding joy and love in the open landscape, and about those single moments that can seal a family’s fate … forever…
Review:
I wasn’t really sure quite what to expect from The Princes of Pauper’s Pond but it turned out to be an unexpected delight of a book. It is gorgeously written with a sort of lyrical yet quirky tone that makes the author’s work as a brilliant artist shine through in the descriptions of the natural world and the creatures found in it. The narrative plays out over two timelines, one in 1985 where Filip attempts to understand the decades long feud between his grandfather and his grandfather’s younger brother, and the other in 1912 where we follow Filip’s grandfather, Arnstein and his brother, Truls, as they are sent out into the wilderness by their domineering father to learn survival skills. Both are fascinating and both are really about masculinity, brotherhood, growing up, and the far reaching consequences of the choices people make in their lives. The Princes of Pauper’s Pond is translated in a way that appears to have managed to keep the poignancy and beauty of the book whilst also successfully retaining the off beat and boldly original tone. I found it an incredibly engaging story from beginning to end with humour, darkness, and brilliantly unusual characters all coming together to create a vivid and genuinely distinctive read which I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys historical or literary fiction. Both of the time periods offer something quite different but both are captivating in an odd, beautifully creative manner, and both are sort of strangely haunting in their own way. A fabulous book, and I’ll be looking forward to reading whatever this talented author writes next.
★★★★.5
Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.
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