New Swedish Books. Autumn 2016 1
AUTUMN 2016 The Polyglot Lovers Lina Wolff THE PO
LYGLOT LOVERS Albert Bonniers Förlag Rights: Bonnier Rights Life is a story that takes many twists and turns, the unexpected always occurs. We try to live by our dreams and desires, we long to find someone to love who’ll love us back, who understands us. Understanding goes a long way – it’s about language and the outward appearance of human beings. But it goes deeper than that – what we see of another person leads deep into the recesses of the soul, into what we do to each other. The way we give and take says a lot about us; it also shapes us. In Lina Wolff’s third book, the novel The Polyglot Lovers, there are three people in focus. Max, Ellinor and Lucrezia, with their longing for love and understanding, twist around one another in an intricate, intense web that stretches all the way from Sweden out across a world of languages and fates. Swede Hollow Ola Larsmo SWEDE HOLLOW Albert Bonniers Förlag Rights: Nordin Agency A century ago, Sweden was a land of emigration. People fled poverty and intolerance and many found the new life they were seeking, primarily in the USA. But many were lost and unskilled and found themselves in tough situations. In the valley of Swede Hollow in Saint Paul, a wretched slum sprang up. Many Swedes got stuck there. They were people who couldn’t live up to the American Dream and were forced to slave away in backbreaking, dirty work, living in 15 terrible conditions. In his broadranging novel Swede Hollow, Ola Larsmo depicts the fates of several families over a hundredyear period. The book shines a light on a group of emigrants who’ve often been overlooked. At the same time, Larsmo shows that no one is wholly alone. Everyone comes from somewhere, and everyone has their place in the grand fate of humanity: to always travel this earth.