Andy Turner

It is not often that an author successfully unleashes a riot of issues within a story which, far from turning the reader off, locks them into an uncomfortable embrace, steering them head-first into a volatile quest of trouble and turmoil. This is faultlessly accomplished by Joel Mauricio Isabel Ortiz in this debut novel.

A skilled wordsmith and nature writer, Niemi juxtaposes lyrical pastoral beauty with the grotesque and the hideous. He is able to enchant, lull and repulse in equal measure. This is writing that will make you think.

Just how much is likely to have changed between two people who have had no contact with each other for twenty years? Why would one of them suddenly arrive on the other’s doorstep after such an absence anyway?

In She Doesn’t Remember, a writer, psychologist and literary translator is inspired to write a moving, timely account of his mother’s dementia that will resonate with many readers outside Sweden.

A curated list of recent gems in Swedish-language literary fiction, as reviewed in Swedish Book Review.

A curated list of compelling historical fiction, as reviewed in Swedish Book Review.

A curated list of recent highlights in narrative non-fiction, as reviewed in Swedish Book Review.