Elisabeth Åsbrink

National values always have a geographical and historical context: there is no immutable core of ‘Swedishness’, but a series of changing conceptions and expressions reacting to outside factors. This study examines how these key expressions have influenced Sweden’s development.

In Elisabeth Åsbrink's remarkable book 1947 the author combines the broad sweep of history with the highly personal. In this interview with her translator Fiona Graham she reflects on the parallels with our own troubled times.

The exploration of her own past was a driving force behind Elisabeth Åsbrink's selection of people and events from 1947 and gives this book its special atmosphere.

'I was born ready to flee.' Elisabeth Åsbrink's genre-bending book portrays three generations of women against the background of Jewish diaspora history.

Set across three generations of women in three cities, Abandonment is a captivating story of love, emigration and humanity that traces how secrets and lies pass from one generation to the next.
Translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner.

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

Celebrating Women in Translation Month, with a selection of writers and works presented in translation on Swedish Book Review.

Elisabeth Åsbrink's My Big, Beautiful Hatred portrays a gifted writer torn apart by the conflicting demands that late nineteenth-century society placed on female authors and intellectuals.