Reviews

Though crimes are definitely committed, this is not a conventional crime novel.

This extremely timely book reminds us why people flee their countries and what happens if we let ignorance and intolerance guide our minds and close our hearts.

If this is all starting to sound like a combination of the Harry Potter and Hunger Games series, mixed with Nordic mythology, and with a large hint of Nordic noir added, then that’s a pretty accurate description.

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but there is a carbon neutral one – if we are willing to pay for it.

There are many intertextual references, usually to European philosophers, and black-and-white illustrations of paintings, landscapes, and photographs, in the spirit of the German novelist W.G. Sebald.

Profoundly humane, inviting the young reader to sympathise with the underdog.

Such benign vagueness is probably the best policy for someone who lives under threat, not only from former potentially murderous co-religionists but also assorted security agencies (the Swedish included).

These short stories may simply be too frightening – or perhaps unnerving – for some readers.

Khemiri is known for his ironically self- referential approach to writing.

Not only is the main character a girl, but the novel looks at other aspects of Viking life, particularly religion, literacy and social distinctions.

Young children’s books often feature dragons and princesses, and this one is no exception.

There is delightful period detail in food, dress and pop songs on tangle- prone cassette tapes, but older history is ever present in this sea-facing kingdom that is trying to turn its back on time.

Over a century later, only the nationalities have changed.

There’s a lot of Pollyanna in Billie, but also a bit of Pippi Longstocking.

In Latvia, however, many people are constantly told they are Russians – however long they’ve lived there.

Now Masha, Tolstoy’s favourite child, comes into focus, completing the Russian triptych.

‘How grandiose, eccentric, depressive, suicidal, bizarre, queer or sexually affirmative can a woman be before she is labelled insane?’

Doris is a determined little girl who knows her own mind. And what she wants is to finish the civil engineering project she’s working on in her sandpit, not to go out for afternoon tea – particularly when that means putting on a pink flouncy frock rather than her favourite sailor suit.