On the Calculation of Volume I is the literary version of Groundhog Day, translated from Danish but set in France. Rare bookseller Tara Selter keeps re-living 18th November while everyone else in the world is experiencing the day for the first time.

I read this and became hooked on Tara's story and her predicament: why was she experiencing this and would it ever stop?

Unfortunately for me, this is the first book of a planned septology, so I have a way to go before I reach the conclusion. A compelling start though!

Time has fallen apart for Tara, an antiquarian bookseller in France, and she’s stuck on 18 November forever in this dreamlike and gorgeously repetitive novel. I can’t wait to find out if we ever move forward in the next volume.

On the Calculation of Volume I is a novel that lingers in the mind long after the last page.

Told from the perspective of Tara Selter, an antiquarian bookseller living in northern France, the book follows her as she discovers that she is trapped in an endless loop, doomed to relive November 18th over and over again. “Time fell apart,” she reflects as she tries to make sense of her strange and unsettling predicament.

The Washington Post noted that if Samuel Beckett had written Groundhog Day, it might have looked something like this. It’s an apt comparison. This novel unfolds like an existential mystery, quiet yet profound, meditative yet deeply unsettling.

On November 17th, Tara’s life appears normal enough—she travels to Bordeaux for an auction of 18th-century illustrated books, then moves on to Paris, where she spends the next day browsing antiques. But then—what? No matter what she does, she wakes up to November 18th again. And again. And again.

At first, Tara seems to approach her predicament with a kind of bemused curiosity, testing the limits of what she remembers and what is erased. But as time (or the illusion of it) wears on, her situation grows lonelier. How does she explain this to her husband? She embarks on an almost allegorical search for a language to express the sheer incomprehensibility of her situation. And with each repeated day, she becomes more ghostlike in her own home—distanced, detached, avoiding her husband as if she is already vanishing from the world.

While this novel is built around a time loop, it isn’t really about time. Instead, it reads as an exploration of the inscrutability of human existence—the small, everyday moments we take for granted and the impossibility of truly making sense of ourselves and others.

Despite its brevity, On the Calculation of Volume I is not a quick or easy read. The pacing demands slowness, rewarding those who take the time to sit with its ideas and let them unfold. It’s intense, introspective, and at times unsettling—but in the best possible way.

This clever and undeniably quirky Danish novel won’t be for everyone, but it's an enriching read for those willing to embrace its strangeness. And with six more volumes to come, I can’t wait to see where this septology takes us next.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read via NetGalley. As always, this is an honest review.

One of 7 books. Following Tara who wakes every day on 18 November, not remembering the day before as the 17th and not anticipating the next day to be the 19th. Every day she knows is November 18th.

While I didn't realise that this book was part of a series..it worked well on its own. A woman stuck in time while the clocks continue to turn, groundhog day, every day is a new adventure.

I requested On the Calculation of Volume after I saw that it had been longlisted for the International Booker.

After devouring it in a couple of greedy, gulping reading sessions, I can now see why. I will be very surprised if this doesn't also go onto the shortlist.

Inevitably, this book will be compared to the movie Groundhog Day, but it is SO much more. The written form allows the author to really get inside the head of Tara, her protoganist who experiences the eighteenth of November over and over again. We see the patterns, the rhythms of this day in minute detail. We experience Tara's varying and evolving moods. We watch her try different ways of dealing with the day, trying to find the rules or the logic to what is happening to her. We see the distance gradually grow between her original eighteenth of November and her loved ones who populate that day but do not ever remember it.

I read that the author plans to write seven books altogether and that book two is due to be published at the same time as book one. Thank goodness! Because I need to find out what happens next.

Ohhhh this gave me claustrophobia, but in a really enjoyable way. It really is a book with no faults. You feel the monotony of the repeating days, you feel the characters resignation, acceptance, frustration and reasoning with every page. I felt so much reading this and the book carried much more weight than I was expecting. Beautifully written and completely absorbing. I can't wait to read Vol. II!

This began as a quiet, reflective, existential pondering on the meaning of time, our place in it, our effect on it and the world around us. Over time it morphed into a suspense filled exploration of what the rift in time meant and how could she if ever escape it. You want to read it quickly to find out but also not so quickly as each 'day' reveals so much. such a treat of a novel. I can't wait to read on.

This is an incredibly strange book that very skilfully draws you into the protagonist's (horrifying) reality of living the same day on repeat. It's a novel take on a topic that has been covered before (notably in films such as Groundhig Day or Palm Springs_ - the author is clear there is nothing funny or fun about this predicament. Weirdly, having had the book on my shelf for months, I started reading it on the same date the protagonist is stuck on. I look forward to the next volume and many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I have to admit that I scan read the last third of this book. The premise of the story appealed to me and at first I was quite engrossed. Half way through the book however I felt the story became somewhat repetitive ( yes I know that’s the point) and I became bored. I believe this is the first in a series. Not sure how that will pan out.

First in a 7 part series, this quirky and compact Danish novel won the Nordic Literature Prize 2022.

It delves into a concept already explored in popular culture - Groundhog Day - but does it in a unique, beguiling way.

Tara Selter is a rare books seller living in Northern France. She visits a book fair in Bordeaux on 18 November, stopping off in Paris on her way home to buy some rare books and a Roman coin from an antiquarian. When she wakes up the following morning, she notices a piece of toast fall to the floor at precisely the same time and in the same manner as the day before, and she realises that is the 18 November again.

The book opens on her 121st experience of 18 November, and over the course of a year, we experience Tara living the same day over and over, with subtle differences. Her husband Thomas is experiencing the day for the first time every time, requiring Tara to explain her predicament time and again - she is stuck in a time loop, while the rest of the world progresses through time.

The book plays close attention to nature, the sound of birds or the snapping of a twig, and explores time as an abstract concept that forces the reader to slow down, reflect on and absorb what is happening. Is it a glitch in time, is the protagonist in an alternate universe, or is she experiencing a mental breakdown?

Book 1 and 2 are now available in English in the US but not out here until April from @faberbooks. Many thanks to the publisher for the arc via @netgalley. An innovative, stylish read, even if I am wondering how the author will stretch the concept over 7 books. Let’s see. 4/5 ⭐️

It’s the 18th of November, and Tara Setter wakes yet again to the same day, every morning it’s precisely the same and so she no longer expects to get to the 19th of November as this day has been repeated 121 times so far. Along with her husband Thomas, Tara is an antiquarian book dealer. On the 17th of November she travels by train from her home in Clairon-Sous-Bous in Northern France to a book auction in Bordeaux, she buys a few books and takes the return journey, staying overnight in Paris as she has an appointment the next day. In addition Thomas asks her to collect and find a few rare book titles. The following day does not seem unusual, errands are run and appointments are kept and she spends a pleasant evening with a coin dealer friend and his girlfriend. Fast forward to the 364th Groundhog Day, can she break the pattern?

If you want to read something a little bit different that is well written than this book may very well fit the bill. However, it is worth noting that this is the first of a series of seven. Book one is comparatively short and although I think it’s a little bit slow it’s not in least bit dull, in fact it’s an intense read.

The sensation she feels of the state of stasis, of the constant repetition are beautifully described. It’s so unsettling with the improbability of it all. You witness how her feelings change with every repeated day, her close intense observations of other changes and the hunger for an answer accompanying the fears she inevitably feels.

It is obviously all on the same theme with the monotony of the repetition of each day and of course her inevitable desire to finally get to the 19th but I find something intriguing in the high-quality writing and of course, she does notice some tiny points of difference. I especially like how the author deals with Tara‘s relationship with Thomas which is a fascinating thing and you witness his bafflement and willingness to understand but also how things change between them.

The ending can be viewed in one of two ways, either it’s not at all satisfactory because …. spoiler… or you’ll be eager to see what happens next in the next volume. Where do I stand? I’m intrigued enough to want to continue to volume two, as to whether my enthusiasm will be sustained to volume seven entirely depends on what happens next!

Overall, I think this is a beautiful written novel with a terrific, smooth translation from the original Danish.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to the publishers for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Rather a frustrating book I wish I’d picked it up on 18th November !

I picked up this novel because I really love time travel novels and this story is about a woman who repeatedly lives the same day over and over in a Groundhog Day style
I found it rather dull story it’s rather monotonous and the explanation as to why this happened to her is not clear
Probably Because the day repeats itself so the novel ends up repeating itself multiple times I became either keen for something different to happen. The author focuses on the emotions and feelings that this predicament raises with the woman who it happened to and also with her husband who lives in normal time and has to have , her problem explained to him every day. Ultimately this becomes too much to handle and avoiding him is an easier option.
I didn’t feel that the story was brought to a very good end and I found the end rather on unsatisfactory
the author is a Danish writer and has written a number of other novels which I have written I understand that this novel is the first in a series and I am a bit conflicted now whether or not to read the second one see if it explains things any better as reading it as a standalone novel I was wondering.

The authors writing style is clear and the novel is is easily read although I found it quite taxing to stick with because of its monotony, this may be something specific to this authors style of writing and other readers may find it more enjoyable
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley. The book is published in the UK on the 10th of April 2025 by Faber and Faber Ltd.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, StoryGraph, Goodreads and my book blog bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon.

Tara Selter lives the Eighteenth of November on repeat forcing her to meditate on the extraordinary nature of life: “That we exist at all. That each of us has come into being as only one of untold possibilities.” A fellow reviewer noted that the novel is somewhat like a “meditative literary version” of The Groundhog Day movie. Personally I kept thinking of the movie “About Time” and in particular the advice to use the time travel to absolutely savour every tiny moment of every single ordinary day. Tara spends most of her time wondering why time has fractured and how she can slip back through the fracture, meanwhile “I talk to no one, but my world acquires more and more details, I pluck words from a world with many voices, from a mood that lends colour…Too many words pour in, the day becomes heavier, slower, comes to a halt.” Excited to read the other six volumes. Special thank you to Faber & NetGalley for a no obligation advance digital review copy.

Tara and her husband Thomas run an antiquarian book business from their home in France. One November 17th she sets off for Paris having booked herself into her usual hotel. The following day starts like any other but there’s a curious coincidence at the breakfast buffet when a guest drops a piece of bread on the floor as they did yesterday. More alarmingly, the daily paper proclaims the date to be November 18th, and Thomas has no recollection of last night's telephone conversation. So begins a year in which Tara is trapped in that November day, able to vary her own version while others perform the same actions for the first time.
Balle’s novel is structured as a diary. Each section is headed with the number of the current iteration of November 18th Tara’s living through as she records her experience – the daily recaps with an astonished Thomas, their mutual scientific investigations, the days in which they wrap themselves up in each other, her eventual retreat into the guest room and avoidance of her husband as he carries out precisely the same actions as he did the day before. Tara and Thomas’s surprisingly easy acceptance of her ordeal is a bit of a stretch but, obviously, readers’ belief must be suspended from the first page. It’s a novel you’ll likely either enjoy or find infuriating. I was intrigued by the puzzle of what it might mean - a metaphor for Tara and Thomas's marriage, a form of dementia or just your standard Kafkaesque nightmare - but I’m unlikely to continue with Balle’s series through its seven volumes.

As intriguing as it sounded! The perfect balance between high concept and domestic, full of compassion and empathy for Tara, and her relationships with the inevitably ignorant Thomas, thought-provoking on how each of our lives bring relentless miniature destructions that can pass seemingly unnoticed by us and those around us, and, above all. a gripping and original plot. I can't wait to read the next volume of this stunning journey.

Tara Selter is living the same day, the 18th of November, over and over again. This is not Groundhog Day, it is not played for laughs or for the mystery, but instead Solvej Valley uses the gimmick to explore the nature of time, of memory, and of living in the moment. It is beautifully written (and translated from the Danish) and it becomes more engaging the deeper you get into it. A word of warning: this is just the first volume in a seven novel cycle, so reading this volume and reviewing it is like only reviewing a work based on a few chapters. I am very keen to read the remaining volumes in the series - all of which I expect are forthcoming. I can recommend this thoroughly, though you may want to wait until all the books are out before starting it yourself. But if you do decide to pick it up, you are in for a real literary treat.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

Really strange, fascinating and mesmerising. But also depressing. And to be honest, I’m not sure if I believed in it, that someone would be able to live through the same day again and again and not go mad or kill themselves. Not for me I’m afraid.
Thank you Faber & Faber and Netgalley UK for the ARC.

This is the first instalment of a seven-part series of novels about a woman, Tara Selter, who wakes up every day on 18 November. Somewhere during the night, things are reset and return to how they were at dawn on the 18th. And so the day endlessly repeats itself, in a loop, with only Tara noticing and growing older and trying to escape, but also somehow enjoying the monotony of everyday life and the intimate knowledge of each and every sound.

As you read, the hope of an escape - or at least some development towards solving the mystery - is always in the back of your mind, as she enlists the help of her partner or returns to place where it all started...but deep down you know the pleasure of a solution is probably not going to be granted.

Solvej Balle is a Danish novelist that I had not heard of before, but apparently enjoyed some success in the nineties with works inspired by Kafka and Borges. This 'Calculation of Volume' series is said to be her big comeback.

I enjoyed it a lot and am quite eager to get to Part 2, but I wonder if I will have the patience to sit it out until Part 7...

An interesting concept - Tara is stuck in fault in time. Her day keeps repeating and repeating - in fact a year’s worth of repeats. The writing is immersive and I found myself reading faster and faster to find out if Tara can find a way out of her nightmare. Alas, an inconclusive cliffhanger which leaves you wondering’Did she or didn’t she?’ And then I find out there are more books to follow. I will have to be patient! ( and hope that my many questions and niggles are resolved…….. )