“The Lady of the Valley” by the Norwegian Ketil Bjornstad is the final part of the trilogy about Axel Vinding (previously released “The Pianists”, “The River”; CompassGuide, 2011–2012), an outstanding musician, who with his debut alone hit the main jackpot - fame and critical acclaim . That day, removing his trembling hands from the piano, he became famous. The best concert halls in Europe await him, the impresario and the teacher are drawing up a program that should preserve him for eternity. The youngest, the most talented, the bravest and the most unfortunate. On the day of his debut, exactly when his fingers sensually slid over the black and white keys of the piano, his wife Marianne committed suicide... Axel is about to turn twenty, in his biography this is the third tragic loss. And it seems that he will no longer be able to cope with this whirlpool. A suicide attempt, a lot of alcohol, another painful romance and a hysterical Rachmaninov. He leaves the bustle of Oslo, to the snow, to the border with Russia, to where people live, dissolved in the timelessness of the northern lights. Will Axel be able to escape the clutches of his past? Many months pass, and now Axel Winding is back in the program of secular metropolitan life...