New Swedish Books, Spring 2018 1
7 Spring 2018 Homestead The village and its inhab
itants most closely resemble a little diorama from a folk museum, in which figures dressed in old-fashioned clothes are placed in a model landscape of carefullyrendered pine forest, fields and farmhouses. But now the village starts to be visited by someone – or something – new. Smoke rises and the ground shakes. The smell of burning hangs in the air. Received wisdom has it that the uncanny arises when the terrifying unknown is combined with the familiar, but Magnus Dahlström takes a different path. Here, the traditional life of the homestead is as threatening as the secrets hidden in the cellars, a Sunday lunch with the family is as unsettling as a magic ritual in a forest glade. Perhaps the inhuman presence rapidly spreading from one household to another is an embodiment of the real character of the community – or a release from it? Magnus Dahlström (b. 1963) Homestead Publisher Albert Bonniers förlag www.albertbonniersforlag.se Selected Works Järnbörd play 1990 Hem novel 1996 Psykodrama novel 2014 Rights Bonnier Rights elisabet.brannstrom@ bonnierrights.se Selected Literary Prizes Sveriges Radios Romanpris 1997 De Nios Vinterpris 2011 Doblougska priset 2012 Photo: Caroline Andersson