New Swedish Books, autumn 2019 1
New Swedish Books 18 Her Words In three novels –
Huntresses of Kalmar, Bay and Song of Öland – Tove Folkesson has written about antiheroine Eva Zachrisson, born on an old family farm on the island of Öland and raised in a suburb of the small town of Kalmar. With great sensitivity, Folkesson portrays high school girl Eva and her friends’ desperate attempts to rebel against small-town ennui. Eva eventually manages to break free and moves to Stockholm to study, but soon feels lost and begins a panicked search for herself. As it turns out, the road to self-knowledge and spiritual balance leads her back to the family farm on Öland. Folkesson’s lyrical, resonant and utterly unique prose shines in her new novel, Her Words. Narrator Tove has a close and loving relationship with her grandmother who lives in their family farm on the island. This matriarch expresses the entire history of their family in her own distinctive language. Tove goes to her as often as she can to preserve her words and memories with a view to passing them on. Tove and her wife dream of having a child and are on the waiting list for reproductive medicine. Not only does Tove long to become a parent, she also has a strong desire to pass on her family’s heritage and traditions. But a brutal encounter with reality shatters this dream. Tove Folkesson (b. 1981) Her Words, novel, 500 p. Publisher Albert Bonniers förlag www.albertbonniersforlag.se Rights Carina Deschamps Agency Carina Deschamps carina@carinadeschamps.com Works Kalmars jägarinnor, novel, 2014 Sund, novel, 2015 Ölandssången, novel, 2017 Selected Literary Prizes Svenska Dagbladets litteraturpris 2015 Signe Ekblad-Eldhs pris 2018 Photo: Sara Mac Key