Little Counsellor

Dr Edman, a middle-aged dermatologist, has been badly battered by work and competition at a Scandinavian research hospital. He and his wife Madeleine move to Southern Turkey in order to reinvent his life, obtaining fast-track citizenship on account of his employment at a military-related clinic. This proves a sinuous enterprise as he no longer has his strong-mindedness – only a great deal of sensitivity and pride – and he carries his irony and idiosyncrasies too far. At the beginning of Little Counsellor,?Dr Edman arrives in England to attend a conference, but his flight doesn’t go as smoothly as planned – he’s detained by the airport and misses the entire first day.

“You have recently got Turkish citizenship. Can you tell us about that? Do you consider yourself a Muslim?”
Energetically I shook my head.
“Have you been in contact with any mosque here in London?”
“I know the one at Finsbury Park from the outside,” I retorted.
Quite naively I thought I had everything under control.

Once more his life will have to be reconstituted, but there is no progress in this until Madeleine – much more eager to further his interests – intervenes. It is she who, indirectly, sows an idea in his mind – the Ivar Foundation. Ivar is an animated little creature and in fact Dr Edman’s sounding board, ‘Little Counsellor’. Ultimately, he takes the leading part, upstaging even his master...

Little Counsellor is about radical life-change, exploring how existential problems can easily invite a tint of gloominess, while being equally humorous. It will be enjoyed by fans of literary fiction.