New Swedish Books, Autumn 2017 1
31 Autumn 2017 Sidonie & Nathalie From Limhamn to
Lofoten During the spring of 1944 two young French women, Sidonie and Nathalie, flee to Sweden across a war-torn Europe. It’s a dramatic odyssey, the women are very different, they’ve come together by chance, and they both carry the weight of memories of loss and violence. In September 2005 Natalie celebrates her ninetieth birthday with her family in Northern Norway. She observes her relatives and remembers the war years and the close but conflicted bond she had with Sidonie. It’s a novel that is at once beautiful and brutal, a book about belonging, identity, the real value of life, and the experiences and obligatory secrets that are the unfortunate price of survival. Sigrid Combüchen’s rich body of work demonstrates a strong, insightful eye. The characters are examined mercilessly – as are the readers’ own perceptions of them and of themselves. Sigrid Combüchen (b. 1942) Sidonie & Nathalie From Limhamn to Lofoten Publisher Norstedts www.norstedts.se Rights Norstedts eva.gedin@norstedts.se Selected Works Livsklättraren Novel 2006 Spill 2010 Den umbärliga Novel 2014 Selected Literary Prizes Svenska Dagbladets litteraturpris 1992 Samfundet De Nios stora pris 1999 Augustpriset 2010 Photo: Jacquette Åkerman