Conversations on the Beach
An older woman returns to a beach in South India more than forty years after a life-changing stay. Through intimate conversations and resurfacing memories, she confronts questions of identity, love, sexuality and the choices that shaped her life.
By Mette Werner
More than forty years after a life-changing stay in South India, Sara returns to the beach where her world was once turned upside down. Now an older woman, she hopes that revisiting the place—and the people she left behind—will help her understand what really happened there.
When Sara reunites with Karna, the former schoolboy who is now a retired professor, their conversations gradually open the door to the past. Memories of family, love, sexuality, filmmaking, spiritual searching and painful choices begin to surface. As they walk along the beach and watch the sun set over the Arabian Sea, Sara is forced to confront both the young woman she once was and the truths she has carried with her ever since.
Set against the vivid landscapes, sounds and rhythms of India, Conversations on the Beach is a reflective and emotionally intimate novel about identity, memory and reconciliation. It explores how the stories we tell about our lives can change with time—and whether returning to the past can finally set us free.
The novel is a standalone sequel to Ode to Light.
Title: Conversations on the Beach
Original Language Title: Samtaler på stranda
Author: Mette Werner
Genre: Literary Fiction / Psychological Fiction
Themes: Identity, memory, sexuality, spirituality, ageing, friendship and reconciliation
Language: Norwegian (Original) / Complete English Translation Available
Publisher: Kolofon Forlag AS
ISBN: 978-82-300-3144-5
Publication Date: 2026
Copyright Year: 2026
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 194
Page Size: 165 × 230 mm
Edition: 1
Rights Available: Translation, print, digital and audio rights. Please contact Norwegian Indie Agency for information about available territories.
Author Biography
Mette Werner trained as a filmmaker in the United States and later worked as a screenwriter for Teamfilm AS. Since making her literary debut in the Norwegian journal Vinduet in the 1970s, she has written across several genres, including fiction and drama.
Her short film The Journey, based on her own screenplay, was named Best Norwegian Short Film and received the award for Best Fiction Film at the renowned Tampere Film Festival in Finland.
Werner has lived in several countries, including Switzerland, India, Spain and Argentina. Her extensive international experience, work in film and lifelong interest in personal and spiritual development are reflected in her writing.
