New Swedish Books, Autumn 2017 1
19 Autumn 2017 Summer, Sister It’s a beautiful su
mmer in Sweden. Outside of Alingsås, in the county of Västergötland, the distant sound of artillery fire can be heard. After the collapse of the army, various groupings fight against each other, and a foreign power has occupied the country. In the wake of the war serious crimes against humanity are committed and people are hoping to make it onto rescue convoys down to the continent. Everyone is frightened and suspicious. Seventeen-year-old Erik trusts his older and much tougher sister Anna implicitly. They set out on a dangerous journey through the forest, from Västergötland down to the eastern shoreline of Småland. Their bond, as well as their physical and mental strength, is continuously put to the test. The people in Jerker Virdborg’s stories are confronted with perils of almost biblical proportions. The austere language and the bleak living conditions depicted combine to give a highly complex image of sibling affection and our human struggle. Jerker Virdborg (b. 1971) Summer, Sister Publisher Norstedts www.norstedts.se Rights Hedlund Literary Agency johanna@hedlundagency.se Selected Works Kall feber Novel 2009 Staden och lågorna Novel 2012 Skyddsrummet Luxgatan Short stories 2015 Selected Literary Prizes Tidningens Vi:s litteraturpris 2002 Karin Boyes litterära pris 2010 Samfundet De Nios Vinterpris 2015 Photo: Martin Stenmark