New Swedish Books. Spring 2016 1
SPRING 2016 Nights at Mon Chéri The murder of Pri
me Minister Olof Palme on the 28th of February 1986 is a unique contemporary Swedish trauma. The fact that it remains unsolved doesn’t help. The ‘Palme investigation’ is a steadily growing enquiry with plenty of conspiracy theories. In other words, an excellent starting point for a novel. Stefan Lindberg is in top story-telling form with Nights at Mon Chéri, where one of the main suspects is called Kenneth Swärd, publicly known in Sweden as the ‘32-year-old’, and who a few years later is also murdered. Lindberg, who appears to have been somewhat obsessed with the murder, is a novelist as well as a short-story writer and a playwright. Here he plays both with real-life and crime genres as with counterfactual literature. With Nights at Mon Chéri he has written a tumultuous, uproarious, spirited and yet tragic novel about what might actually have happened. A distorted truth in the guise of literature. “A distorted truth in the guise of literature.” STEFAN LINDBERG NIGHTS AT MON CHÉRI ALBERT BONNIERS FÖRLAG RIGHTS: ALBERT BONNIERS FÖRLAG If it all goes to hell I’m still going to die AGNETA KLINGSPOR IF IT ALL GOES TO HELL I’M STILL GOING TO DIE ATLAS RIGHTS: ATLAS The autobiographical line of enquiry has always been strong in Agneta Klingspor’s writing ever since her much talked about debut in 1977. This is also the case with her new book, a kind of continuation of If it all goes to hell I’ve still been born from 2006. At the time, almost ten years ago, the author was sniffing around at the disintegration on the fringes of society and was at her mother’s deathbed. Now, as she herself approaches seventy, her writing is primarily about aging, about a memory that’s not what it was and a body that’s not doing what she wants. She writes; “I make myself comfortable in my aging body”. “It will be a difficult time, as immense a change as puberty was, but in reverse. “What makes Agneta Klingspor into such an original writer is her direct address, her courage, humour, her contempt for death and her rage. This book is definitely no exception. 15