New Swedish Books. Autumn 2016 1
AUTUMN 2016 Elisabeth Åsbrink 1947 Natur & Kultur
Rights: Partners in Stories “ Elisabeth Åsbrink’s book allows the reader to feel the strong cords of connection that run between people and events” 1947 In Elisabeth Åsbrink’s book 1947, a single year steps forth out of time. To observe the events of 70 years ago is to make the lines connecting them to the current time very clear. Elisabeth Åsbrink writes about many concurrent events, such as how India was to become independent, how Israel was formed through deep torment, how Nazi war criminals appeared before the courts in Nürnberg – just as Simone de Beauvoir and the American author Nelson Algren were involved in a powerful, impossible love affair at the same time as de Beauvoir was beginning her book The Second Sex. Elisabeth Åsbrink’s book allows the reader to feel the strong cords of connection that run between people and events, and the fact that the teller’s own tale is always woven into the larger narrative, that we are all significant parts of everything that happens. 23