On the Calculation of Volume IV by Solvej Balle

I’ve changed as a person. I’m becoming one of those people who reads sequels/series in relatively quick succession! I started Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume series in January, and I’ve made it to the fourth volume – published in Danish in 2022, and in translation by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell in 2026, making it perfect for Women in Translation Month. (Incidentally, I wonder why the translators have changed since the first volume?) Here are my thoughts on the books in the series so far. Even though I’ve read the third book as recently as May, I did have to dig around to remember what happened (and found this excellent essay). This review will have spoilers for the other books so far, of course: as a reminder, Tara is an antiquarian book dealer stuck in a timeloop. She is 35, though I’d remembered her being much older. For thousands of days, it has been 18 November. The twist is that she always starts the day wherever she ended the previous one – so, in the…