Seeking asylum from a distant conflict in Eastern Europe, Zheljka and Mesud are given refuge in the home of Hans Olav and Mette in Oslo. Their arrival is to have profound consequences. Hans Olav is baffled by his wife's sudden decision to take in this strange and alien couple. Threatened by Mesud's abrasive manner, and unsettled by Mette's increasingly unpredictable behaviour, he is anxious for the visitors to leave from almost the moment they arrive.
Apparently settled into a childless middle age, Mette revisits her own unresolved family history in her frantic desire to establish some kind of connection with Zheljka. All the while, Mesud and Zheljka try to find ways to reinvent their love for each other in the aftermath of war.
Both families struggle to acknowledge the unspoken pain in their lives as Zheljka's child, born in the horror and suffering of war, becomes the focus of a drama in which each of them will share.
Sparingly told, both uniquely powerful and wise in its compassion, 'Music for the Third Ear' is a deeply moving novel. Between the lines the reader hears echoes of how each of us struggles with our own acts of betrayal, our tenderness, our vulnerability.
