More Swedish Fiction 1
Lydia Sandgren Few Swedish debut novels published
in the 21st century have received as much attention as Lydia Sandgren’s Collected Works (2020). Besides winning the prestigious August Prize, it also generated a media debate on literary merit, with opinions divided on whether the book was mediocre or brilliant. It emerged victorious. With exceptional focus, Sandgren tells the story of two friends, Gustav –an artist – and Martin, who works in publishing. Martin’s wife vanished a number of years ago, and her absence has bound the two friends together, even as it threatens to tear them apart. Collected Works is a subtle novel that succeeds in its ambitious goal to recreate Gothenburg from the 1980s onward. Sandgren, who has a day job as a psychologist, impresses with her complex, memorable character portraits that delve into hidden human depths. In her second novel, Survival of the Species (2025), Karl Hillberg is a successful writer who is commissioned to pen a biography of an eminent orchestra conductor. The project is dogged by rivalries and secrets. Once again, Lydia Sandgren demonstrates intimate knowledge of a historical event and the ways friendships and romantic relationships can cease or survive when put to the test. Both of her novels manage to avoid easy nostalgia, examining instead how the conditions for artistic creation can change over time. In a Swedish radio programme, Sandgren explained that she aims to write the way Roy Bittan (the keyboardist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band) plays piano. The comparison is spot-on. Her melodic prose flows brightly and effortlessly over invisible keys while retaining elements of darkness and melancholy. She has written two weighty tomes that sound lovely, yet leave space for intelligent, nuanced discussions of friendship and love. Björn Kohlström Rights sold to: 15 countries Survival of the Species 700 p, 2025, Albert Bonniers Förlag Rights: First Edition Management A rich and winding novel about the conditions of creation, about music, love, and literature in Gothenburg, Rome, and New York, from the 1970s into our present day. Collected Works 689 p, 2020, Albert Bonniers Förlag Rights: First Edition Management When publisher Martin Berg visits an art exhibition and sees a portrait of his missing wife, his life is turned upside down. An addictive brick of a novel about deep love, enduring friendship, and art, set against a backdrop of modernity and social mobility. 18 More Swedish Fiction Photo: Daniel Wester