Swedish Contemporary Fiction 1
Kerstin Ekman (b. 1933) Kerstin Ekman is one of f
ew Swedish writers who has retained her intellectual credibility as her books reached wider audiences. This grande dame of Swedish literature has over 40 titles to her name – mainly novels and essays, but also crime fiction, TV and film screenplays, and an opera libretto. She is a master of style, producing deceptively simple prose that is crystal-clear and loaded with meaning. With a perceptive eye for what motivates people, she writes deeply human characters in all their frailty and strength. The Wolf Run (‘Löpa varg’, 2021), Ekman’s first The Wolf Run 150 p. 2021, Albert Bonniers Rights: Bonnier Rights A story of a community and a wolf – and how an unexpected encounter between man and wolf has the power to change the course of the lives of everyone in the small town of Loåsen. novel in ten years, is a compact novel that manages to pack in most of the themes that have recurred throughout her career. She made her literary debut in 1959 with 30 Metres of Murder (‘30 meter mord’), which she followed up with six well-received psychological thrillers in quick succession. In The Wolf Run she plays with well-known crime fiction tropes, but here the victim is not a person but a wolf. Ekman’s critique of civilisation is a common Blackwater 432 p. 1993, Albert Bonniers Rights: Bonnier Rights On her way through the deep forest, Annie stumbles upon the site of a grisly double murder – a crime that will remain unsolved for nearly twenty years, until the day Annie sees her grown daughter in the arms of a man she glimpsed that eerie midsummer night. The Dog 100 p. 1986, Albert Bonniers Rights: Bonnier Rights A puppy gets lost and is left to struggle for survival in the wild. The puppy turns wild, trusting no human. But one man is intrigued by the feral dog and very slowly begins to gain its trust. thread that runs through her books, from the Katrineholm Suite of novels, which marked her first big commercial success. The suite examines the ways people’s lives were transformed by industrialisation in the late 19th century. Modern society’s exploitation of nature is also the central theme of her acclaimed volumes of essays. Kerstin Ekman lived in northern Sweden for many years. Her love for the northern landscape and the people who inhabit it is evident in The Wolf Run as well as other works, such as her widely praised Wolf Skin Trilogy, about three generations of women who live in a fictional northern community. In The Wolf Run, the relationship between a forester and his wife plays a central role. She is his rock when his whole existence starts to crumble. Love is a crucial, powerful force in Ekman’s novels. She possesses a rare ability to conjure up the trust that comes from life-long love in just a few lines. Kerstin Ekman has stated that The Wolf Run will be her last novel. Let’s hope she changes her mind. Yukiko Duke Rights sold to: 14 countries Swedish Contemporary Fiction 8 Foto: Bodil Bergqvist