Ellen Vahr is Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) from the Coaches Training Institute (CTI) and Professional Certified Coach (PCC) from the International Coach Federation (ICF). Before going into coaching and building her own firm, Ellen worked for 20 years in the finance- and insurance business in Norway. She has also worked and studied for several years abroad. After graduating from Copenhagen Business School (CBS), she worked and studied business, language and culture in the USA, England, Denmark and in Tunisia. She has for several years worked with hundreds of clients offering Professional Coaching for private and business clients and Mentor Coaching for coaches in training and certification. For many years, she worked extensively with Female Entrepreneurs. Ellen Vahr is now a full-time writer.

 

NOVELS

Contact Translations

If you want to discuss the possibilities for the translation of Ellen Vahr’s novels:  Oslo Literary Agency 

​

A three-book deal to Denmark 2023: The Idle Hour-trilogy is sold to North Audio Publishing (part of Politikens Forlag)

​

A three-book deal to Sweden 2024: The Idle Hour-trilogy is sold to World Audio Publishing Sweden

​

The Hospital at Ellis Island (2023)

- The third novel in the Idle Hour Series, H. Aschehoug & Co.

- Based on a true story

- 26 Weeks on the Norwegian Bestseller-list

The last book in The Idle Hour-trilogy.

​

World War I is over. Thea is back with the Vanderbilt family in Manhattan. Her boyfriend Paul has died in the war, and she has decided to return back home to Norway. But before she leaves, she promises to help her friend’s daughter into America. The daughter, Anna, falls ill on the crossing and is isolated in the hospital at Ellis Island. Thea has to postpone the journey home.

​

One day a mysterious man with amnesia appears. Secrets about Anna’s background are slowly revealed, and Thea is forced to make the biggest decision of her life.

​

‘The Hospital at Ellis Island’ concludes Ellen Vahr’s successful trilogy about Thea from Oslo who travels to America to work for the wealthy Vanderbilt family. Following the two books: The Journey to Idle Hour and The Brooklyn Bakery.

​

The Bakery in Brooklyn    (2021)

- The second novel in the Idle Hour Series, H. Aschehoug & Co.

- On Norli's bestseller list the first week

- Based on a true story

​

Thea has left her family in Norway to work for the rich and powerful Vanderbilt family in America. Her dream is to make enough money to go home and buy back the family bakery. Then Amanda shows up, the cheerful girl she shared a cabin with on the crossing. Amanda’s encounter with America has been far more brutal than Thea’s, and she needs Thea’s help. America is the place of dreams and the two friends go all in and open a bakery in Brooklyn, but Amanda has her own plans. Soon Thea finds herself in an impossible situation that forces her to see herself in a whole new way.

​

The Brooklyn Bakery is a captivating encounter with wealth 100 years ago, and the jazz that fills New York’s dance halls. It’s a heartwarming novel about baking, friendship and love, but first and foremost it’s a story about finding your own way and being free.

​

The Journey to Idle Hour    (2019)

- The first novel in the Idle Hour Series, H. Aschehoug & Co.

- Rights sold to German Aufbau (Miss Marie, 2021)

- Based on a true story

- Most sold book in Norway, any category, in January 2023

 

The First World War is raging in Europe and the Thoresen family, bakers in Kristiania, have run short of flour. One day an invitation arrives for their eldest daughter Thea from one of their two aunts in America. She will be able to support the family financially by going to work for the well-to-do American Vanderbilt family. If she accepts, she will have to say goodbye to her sweetheart Hans who has marriage in mind.

​

Thea travels across the Atlantic to a life she could never have imagined. As a housemaid in the family’s holiday home Idle Hour on Long Island, she discovers the existence of a fixed order of rank even among the servants. In this land of freedom for all, she realises everything is different. And Thea is at the bottom of the ladder, among the invisible ones.

​

She relies on her aunts, but they carry a secret that Thea is eventually forced to carry too in order to prevent their world from collapsing. And when the unfairness inherent in the Vanderbilt system also leads to consequences for the servants, Thea is forced to ask questions not only about what she feels to be right, but also about who she is and what she stands for.

​

​

The Gift   (2016)

-  Nominated to the Bookseller’s Prize 2016

-  Rights sold to German Aufbau (Die Gabe, 2019)

– Based on a true story

– Has been selected to be Book of the Month in January 2017 by the book clubs

​

“Vahr has given life to a truely fascinating and strong woman who overcame fears and prejudices, followed her heart and found her own path.” Elin Brend Bjørhei, VG

​

“The Gift” is a story about fear and concealment, and about the possibilities that open up when we dare to stand up for ourselves. H. Aschehoug & Co.

​

Ever since she was little, crofter’s daughter Anne has felt different. She was born with the second sight, which is set off when she is out in nature. At the age of 25, Anne ends up in Norway’s capital, then called Christiania, working as a servant girl for a renowned goldsmith and his sick wife. She is seduced by the master of the house, and simultaneously tormented by her closer relationship to his wife.

​

Suddenly Anne finds herself out on the street, saddled with children, poverty and shame. All she has left are her own self and her gift – and that’s when she finally wakes up. With her knowledge of nature and her belief in her own skills, life opens up to her in a new way.

​

“The Gift”is a book about a women’s struggle to find her own path and dare to follow it. It is a story of profound poverty, betrayal and violation, but it is also a love story about courage, hope and finding one’s way home.

Brannfjell’s achievements included providing home remedies for the treatment of rickets.

​

​

INSPIRATIONAL BOOKS

​

Våg Livet   (2013)

Våg Livet (Dare your Life); a book about finding the courage to live your dream. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag.

​

​

Drømmekraft   (2011)

Drømmekraft (The Power of Dreams); a book about following your heart, living true to yourself and fulfilling your dreams. Drømmekraft has three main agendas: finding your dream, following it and maintaining it, so that you may live a life in keeping with who you really are and with your values. Have your already found your dream but have difficulties in succeeding financially; the book gives you 30 concrete strategies for success, as well as inspiring entrepreneurial stories. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag.

​

Contact Talks and Book Presentations

Ellen is offering lectures and talks to both businesses and private organizations. She travels across large parts of Scandinavia and shares her books and experiences as a professional coach with a large audience.

​

If you do want to get in contact with Ellen concerning lectures, talks or book presentations, please do not hesitate to contact her for further information.

​