New Swedish Books, Autumn 2017 1
New Swedish Books 34 Vera In 1945, just as the wa
r has ended, Sandrine is about to turn seventeen as she arrives in Sweden from France. She’s pregnant and wants an abortion. The doctor, the much older Ivan Ceder, promises to take care of her and the child if she keeps it. They get married, in a strange winter wedding marred by scandal, on a freezing archipelago island. The marriage and ensuing parenthood turn out to be as cold as the wedding was. His wealthy high society relations find it difficult to accept Sandrine, and she, with her damaged background, finds it equally difficult to accept them. With intensity and a perceptive eye Anne Swärd tells the gripping and dark story of Sandrine, Ivan, and little Vera. It’s a very beautiful and engaging novel modelled on the tensions between people, their secrets, and the wounds left by all that went unsaid or unhealed. No one escapes unhurt, and reconciliation is a remote prospect. Anne Swärd (b. 1969) Vera Publisher Albert Bonniers www.albertbonniersforlag.se Rights Albert Bonniers daniel.sandstrom@ albertbonniers.se Selected Works Polarsommar Novel 2003 Kvicksand Novel 2006 Till sista andetaget Novel 2010 Literary Prizes Mare Kandre-priset 2006 Helgapriset 2016 Photo: Henric Tiselius