Reviews

A comprehensive selection of Martinson’s poetry in English translation.

Grips you by the throat, a great novel that tells you something about la condition humaine – and also a very Swedish one, with links to writers like Vilhelm Moberg and Harry Martinson.

Julia Dahlberg’s debut novel is a multi-dimensional narrative, a modern skärgårdsroman (skerries novel).

The final book in Jens Lapidus’s gangster crime trilogy.

This little white book is the latest in a series of several works by Lotass that straddle the boundaries of genre.

After poetry collections and a first novel, Moodysson trained as a film-maker; this further novel marks his return to prose writing.

The third book in Kristina Ohlsson’s series of crime novels centred on a police team in Stockholm.

Eva Ström's novel takes risks by trying to examine how the unexplainable can feel as real and important as reality.

Göran Persson could see no reason for Sweden to be ashamed of anything it did during the war. Klas Åmark’s book is in every way a contribution to greater knowledge and vigorous debate. Those who want a powerful argument in favour of reading this work should consider this brief, simple motive: to find out how right Persson was and, later, how wrong.

In this well-researched, first-class work, Martin Hårdstedt guides us through complex military and political situations while recognising the humanity of the protagonists.

Dedicated amateur botanists Ekman and Eriksson provide a unique mixture of curiosity and enthusiasm, science and scholarship, with the addition of an acute awareness of cultural and environmental change.

Gedin cares for his subject, but is not restrained: Larsson is shown to be a greater artist and a less consistently agreeable man than his reputation might suggest.

The tension is ratcheted up in Liselott Willén's well-crafted psychological drama, which is anything but a police procedural, and written in language with real savour.

Claes de Faire is a journalist turned novelist.

Magnus Bärtås and Fredrik Ekman have written books together before: wry studies of closed, cultish societies. But they are keen on the cinema and its lore, and have now picked a perfect travel goal: secretive North Korea.

An historical novel about Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the Finnish national poet of the nineteenth century. With such a topic most readers would expect quite a serious approach. However, this novel was written by Erik Wahlstöm – and that makes all the difference.

Therese Bohman's chilling, atmospheric debut plumbs the darker depths of relationships.

Finland-Swedish writer Susanne Ringell’s collection of short stories provide tantalising glimpses into hidden lives, as when glinting fish dart by.