All mum's kindness and thoughtfulness towards Alfhild and Yngve was completely overshadowed by dad's four-second gaze. For that matter, this is how she had probably been at weekends as well, when Yngve was here alone and dad stayed on the ground floor of the barn as much as possible, only turning up for meals, at which his refusal to ask Yngve a single question or grace him with even a minimum of attention is what lingered in the mind after the weekend, despite all mum's efforts to make Yngve feel at home. It was dad who set the tone at home; there was nothing anyone could do.

karl ove knausgaard, Karl Ove Knausgaard - A Dea…, loc. 229