Paradise Rot is a novel written by Jenny Hval. The original Norwegian novel was published in 2009 and was titled Norwegian: Perlebryggeriet (Pearl Brewery). The English version of the book, translated by Marjam Idriss, was published by Verso Books in 2018.[1]
Jo, a twenty-year-old Norwegian studying abroad in Australia, moves in with an eccentric older girl, Carral, who lives in a renovated old brewery. The apartment has few, thin walls and there is no privacy for either of the girls. As the semester progresses, Jo and Carral grow closer.[2]
Reviews of Paradise Rot describe the novel as "grotesque",[3] "surreal",[4] and "downright nasty".[5]
Pitchfork's Niina Pollari wrote, "The strength of Paradise Rot is its peculiar narrator, whose headspace provides Hval with a showcase for her descriptive style."[6] PopMatters praised the writing as well: "Paradise Rot is not necessarily a pleasurable read, blurring the lines of the coming-of-age genre with psychological horror and rendered in such lucid, impressionistically descriptive prose that merely reading it makes you feel fairly woozy."
In 2024, the novel experienced a surge in popularity as a 'disturbing book' due to attention from the BookTok community on TikTok.