Reviews
Curated and edited by Darcy Hurford
REVIEW
Barndom
Bo Carpelan's impressionistic description of the life of a small boy from infancy to 13 years of age in 1930s Finland.
REVIEW
Fienden inom oss
Contrary to the conventional police drama, Jan Guillou's novel raises more questions than it answers, not only about the guilt or otherwise of those eventually convicted, but also about the destruction of aspects of democracy by the very processes that are supposed to protect it.
REVIEW
Edelcrantz förbindelser
The protagonist of Malte Persson's historical novel, like a more solemn and scientifically-inclined Mrs. Dalloway, is surrounded by interesting individuals with stories of their own.
REVIEW
Den larmande hopens dal
Erik Andersson's novel takes the reader on an odyssey through the province of Västergötland, aptly compared by one character to the Iowa corn belt in the United States.
REVIEW
Ett annat liv
When is an autobiography a novel? The question is relevant because Enquist’s book won the 2008 August Prize – in the fiction category.
REVIEW
Glädjestranden
Ellen Matsson's inheritance story is part psychological drama, part minutely-observed social history, part poetry.
REVIEW
Orgelbyggaren
Robert Åsbacka's novel on the search for art in everyday life, with characters who are ordinary people appreciative of Beckett’s plays and Baroque organ music.
REVIEW
Vänner och älskare
Theodor Kallifatides has given us an affectionate portrait of people who are not afraid of opening their hearts. It is a rare and tender novel.
REVIEW
I ett förskingrat nu
The past, the sense of its presence, is scattered through the present of Eva Runefelt's poems.
REVIEW
Hästen från porten: ett österländskt ävertyr
Carina Burman’s witty and thoroughly researched pastiche on Victorian detective stories.
REVIEW
Kicki & Lasse
Seasoned author Peter Kihlgård is bidding for our attention with an experiment in form.
REVIEW
När tiden tog slut
Göran Sahlberg's exuberant yet wistful novel with its vivid, tragic-comic account of a very unusual childhood evokes an era when Sweden felt it stood centre-stage in the world.
REVIEW
Den osynliga
Lise Indahl's first novel for young readers is much more than the ghost story it seems at first to be, as the mysteries that unfold all have their explanations in the concrete world and raise serious questions about social reality in contemporary Sweden.
REVIEW
En dramatikers dagbok
The reader is drawn in by Lars Norén’s warts-and-all portrayal of a sensitive but self-centred artist battling with depression and a mid-life crisis.
REVIEW
Lusten och dämonerna - Boken om Bergman
Mikael Timm's portrait of Ingmar Bergman through his work.
REVIEW
Någon annanstans i Sverige
Hans Gunnarsson is one of the best chroniclers of contemporary life in Sweden.