Susan Froderberg

Susan Froderberg discusses her new novel Mysterium.

Praise for Mysterium

Praise for Mysterium

“Mysterium is a beautifully rendered exploration of the essential role that landscape plays in the long and difficult journey from grief to understanding and acceptance. Susan Froderberg’s feeling-driven narrative is filled with both suspense and tenderness. A life-enhancing experience.” —Jane Urquhart, author of The Night Stages

“An adventure at the top of the world; a narrative of reflection, insight, and survival.” —Paulette Jiles, author of News of the World

“First there is the superbly drawn cast of complex and compelling characters, none more beguiling than Sarasvati ‘Sara’ Troy, the young woman who, with a vision of climbing the mountain that is her namesake, puts the plot in motion. Then there is the masterfully executed suspense and drama of the climb. Finally there is the lovely and lyric writing about the mountain herself—as monolith and metaphor. These three pleasures combine to make Mysterium impossible to put down.” —Pam Houston, author of Contents May Have Shifted

About Mysterium

Mysterium, known as Mount Sarasvati, looms over the Indian Himalayas as the range’s tallest peak in the dazzling fictional world Susan Froderberg has created.

Sarasvati “Sara” Troy is determined to reach the peak for which she was christened, and to climb it in honor of her mother, who perished in a mountaineering accident when Sara was just a child. She asks her father, a celebrated mountaineer and philosophy professor, to organize and lead the expedition.The six climbers he recruits are an uneasy mix. They include his longtime friend Dr. Arun Reddy, a recent widower, and Reddy’s son, who often challenges his father; Wilder Carson, the acclaimed climber who is tormented by the death of his brother; Wilder’s wife, Vida, a former lover of Dr. Reddy; and the distinguished scholar of climbing Virgil Adams and his wife, Hillary. Porters and Sherpas are recruited in India to assist and be part of the team.

The party’s journey is harrowing, taking them from the mountain’s gorge, into its sanctuary, and finally onto the summit, a path that evokes the hell, purgatory, and heaven of Dante’s Inferno. As the air thins and this unforgettable journey unfolds, Sara emerges as a Beatrice-like figure, buoying her companions up the mountain through the sheer strength and beauty of her being. Both monumental quest and dreamlike odyssey, Mysterium is infused with the language of climbing and profound existential insight.