NORSTEDTs agency 2012

Transcription

1 NORSTEDTs agency 2012

2 Literary fiction EIJA HETEKIVI OLSSON Eija Hetekivi Olsson was born in 1973 and grew up in the Gothenburg suburbs Gårdsten and Bergsjön. She has worked as a cleaner and as a waitress, before studying to become a teacher. Ingenbarnsland is her debut. Ingenbarnsland / No Child s Land Januari 2012, 324 pages Senior Editor: Susanna Romanus Rights sold to: Schildts & Söderströms, Finland With Burning Rage and Courage The parks are littered with trash; the streets are covered with cigarette butts. The litterbins outside the school are on fire, and so is the rage inside Miira. Asphalt court yards, concrete buildings and faces hard as stone. The place is called Gårdsten, a suburb outside Gothenburg, just like any other working-class suburb outside any other town. Bored teenagers, junkies and alcoholics share the semi-empty squares and staircases. The litterbins outside the school are on fire, and so is the rage inside Miira. Miira is not like the others in the class; shoved together with these kids with similar backgrounds, pre-determined by the school as future cleaners and industrial workers. But Miira wants to become a prime minister or a brain surgeon when she grows up. She alone chooses advanced math in school and shoplifts medical books to study at home. She is the kind of girl who never ducks for a fight, who won t giggle when guys grope her, who won t accept any injustices around her. But she is also heavily weighed down by the burden of her own class she wants to be better, to do better, but the society won t always let her. This is a no child s land, cemented by blunt bureaucracy and suppressed dreams. Eija Hetekivi Olsson s eye-opening debut novel Ingenbarnsland / No Child s Land is set in the Gothenburg suburbs in the eighties, and we follow the girl Miira from her preadolescence to her becoming a young woman. Hetekivi Olsson writes expressively and with rarely seen intensity; like a welding flame the novel depicts Sweden after the Welfare State. The portray of Miira is one of the strongest in recent years fiction. Press voices: This is a ferociously strong debut / / seldom have I read such a translucent, acute and contemporary description of the extreme vulnerability of children who live an unprotected life Dagens Nyheter Reading Ingenbarnsland is like being flung round in a centrifuge. The world is not the same afterwards. Norrköpings Tidningar Ingenbarnsland with its grim realism is a wonderful debut novel, filled with extreme linguistic fantasy and with an intelligently executed street view of Swedish class-based society of 25 years ago. I doubt it looks any different today. In an interview I read that Eija Hetekivi Olsson is burning with the desire to write more books. Good! I really want to read more of her work! Skånska Dagbladet

3 Literary fiction Helena Thorfinn Helena Thorfinn was born in 1964 and worked for many years as a journalist for newspapers as well as for TV before making a career change to work as a social analyst for Save the Children and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). After three years at the Swedish Embassy in Dhaka she and her family returned to Sweden and settled in Lund. Innan floden tar oss is her debut novel. Innan floden tar oss / Sisters by the River March 2012, 432 pages Senior Editor: Susanna Romanus Lead title in major book club Sample translation in English available Rights sold to: Silke Forlag, Norway Gripping Depiction of Women in Bangladesh On Saturdays throughout the spring he had sat in countless Södermalm cafés along with other fathers of young children, sipped latte and eaten sourdough bread rolls with brie, crunched on the red pepper that came with the brie and explained: I ve been a teacher now for almost 15 years. It s time to try something else for a while. Sometimes you ve got to have the courage to make a change. This is Sofia s big chance. Sofia has high expectations of her new job as head of development co-operation at the Swedish embassy in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and Janne grudgingly accepts that going with her means he will have to assume the role of stay-at-home dad for their two young children. At the same time a young woman, Mukta, is murdered by her husband in a small village deep in the countryside. Her little sisters Mina and Nazrin decide to take their destiny into their own hands and flee to Dhaka. Confronting the reality of Dhaka is equally as overwhelming for Swedish Sofia and Janne as it is for the young sisters from the village, and despite the different circumstances their lives soon become linked. The story reveals a world of grand embassy receptions, exploited textile workers and Swedish family life. Careerists and idealists gather around the same swimming pool, and tennis matches and terrorism impact everyday life. Innan floden tar oss / Sisters by the River is a novel vibrant with colour and teeming with life and it takes us to places and events at whirlwind speed. With immediacy and humour Thorfinn describes the Swedes attempts to do good while being politically correct, and she movingly narrates the dreams and misfortunes of the Bangla girls. A sweeping, powerful and exciting portrayal touching on the urgent, difficult issues as well as the everyday ones. Press voices: Sisters by the River is an unusually mature and well-written debut, as sharp in its depiction of contemporary customs as in the analysis of a failure of development policies. It will surely get many readers. Sydsvenskan Exciting and enlightening novel of the Swedish development aid industry Aftonbladet

4 Literary fiction GUNNAR ARDELIUS Gunnar Ardelius was born in 1981 and made his debut with his YA novel Jag behöver dig mer än jag älskar dig... / I Need You More Than I Love You... (Rabén & Sjögren). The book has been translated into many languages including English, French and German. It was nominated for the August Prize and won the Slangbellan Prize for best debut. The book has also been made into a short film. Friheten förde oss hit is Gunnar Ardelius fourth book and his first aimed at adult readers. Friheten förde oss hit The Love of Liberty Brought Us Here March 2012, 208 pages Senior Editor: Håkan Bravinger A Family Drama in 1960s Liberia The sweat ran down their backs. The long journey from an icy and chilly Stockholm was over; they had arrived in Yekepa. The powerful sun beat down on patches of unprotected skin and the dust settled quickly again on the ground. Like a herd of frightened animals they clung close together. Hektor, Margret and their teenage son Mårten have just landed in Liberia. It is the end of the 1960s and Hektor is about to start his new job with the Swedish mining company LAMCO. The journey carried with it the promise of a new start but he soon realises that his career at the mine will not be straightforward. He is alarmed by the management s attitude towards the local inhabitants and unofficial strike action is looming. His wife Margret is unhappy in her new environment and finds the Liberians both frightening and exasperating. The heat is oppressive, her nerves are in shreds and she is missing her lover Axel back in Sweden. The only member of the family to feel at home in the new country is seventeen year-old Mårten. He soon befriends the Snake Boy, the family s unconventional gardener, and meets red-haired Ingela who loves Hitchcock and The Saint. Mårten is living in a new era: he believes in change and in the international solidarity of the proletariat, and he sides with the Liberians against the colonialists. However, his conviction and naiveté inevitably drive events to the edge of catastrophe and place the whole family and the Snake Boy in danger. Friheten förde oss hit / The Love of Liberty Brought Us Here, the story of a Swedish family s destiny in 1960s Liberia, is intensely gripping with its sense of foreboding and is a fascinating documentation of an often overlooked part of contemporary Swedish history. Press voices: The novel is a quiet gem, continuously moving, very melancholy. Göteborgs-Posten an exciting novel, vividly formed with a drive which also gives a realistic picture of how it could actually be for a Swedish family in Africa in the 1960s. And he writes a precise, nuanced Swedish with at times original metaphors, without any hint of cliché or repetition. Helsinborgs Dagblad

5 Literary fiction Robert ÅSBACKA Robert Åsbacka was born in 1961 in Terjärv, Finland, but now lives in Sweden. He made his debut in 1988 with the poetry collection Med tungorna hängande but his breakthrough came with Döbelns Gränd in Åsbacka has been shortlisted and awarded numerous prestigious awards, among them the Runeberg Prize (shortlisted 2005 and 2008), the Finlandia Prize (shortlisted 2006) and the Nordic Council s prize for literature (shortlisted 2008). His latest novel, Orgelbyggaren, 2008, has been published in Sweden and translated into Finnish and German. Samlaren / The Collector September 2012, 240 pages Senior Editor: Mari Koli, Schildts & Söderströms Orgelbyggaren / The Organ Builder August 2008, 300 pages Senior Editor: Mari Koli, Schildts & Söderströms Rights sold to: Hanser, Germany An Unnerving Tale of Coincidence and Chance It was my first record ever. I was thinking that I just have to have a record player. It was about time. If only I had a record player I could sit by myself at home, in bed and listen and bob my foot just like Bo and Viola were doing now. If I had a record player and a room. It is winter Twelve year-old Tom lives with his mother and older sister Karin in a small flat. He keeps his possessions and collections in boxes under the sofa in the living room where he sleeps, looking forward to the day his sister will finally move out. His best friend Mats moved a couple of months earlier, without him there is not much to do in this dull small town. Sometimes he goes out looking for things for his collection, but when he does he has to be careful so that The Brothers don t find him and beat him up. around her as much as he can. Robert Åsbacka s tone is unsentimental and precise, loaded with meaning and feeling. Through Tom s recollections and matter-of-fact police protocols, Samlaren / The Collector tells the unnerving story of a young boy and the traumatic chain of events that came to affect his life. Press voices for Robert Åsbacka s previous work: The most vivid, intense and provoking novel I ve read in a long time. Read! Huvudstadsbladet The Organ Builder is really an impressive novel creation that captivates its reader from the first moment. Vasabladet A hopeful expression of the possibilities in the art of making a novel. Svenska Dagbladet Outside his window Tom can see his neighbour Bo s big fancy American cars parked in the backyard. Bo is also a collector; he is handsome, quiet and secretive. Tom knows that Bo writes strange letters to Karin, even though he has a girlfriend, Viola. Tom loves watching Viola and tries to be

6 Literary fiction Aleksander Motturi Aleksander Motturi, born 1970, has worked at Åbo Academy in Finland, The Wittgenstein Archives at the University of Bergen, on the cultural journal Glänta and is one of the driving forces behind the Clandestino Institute in Göteborg. He has translated and written a PhD thesis about Ludwig Wittgenstein s remarks on Frazer, written drama and is the author of the book Etnicism dealing with the contemporary metamorphosis of racism. Svindlarprästen is Motturi s second novel. Svindlarprästen / The Swindling Priest September 2012, 282 pages Senior Editor: Håkan Bravinger qw b u He Swindled Everyone and Everything Women fell for his charm and lost all they owned. Bishops and chief executives were swindled out of millions. Someone called John Peter Daniels is deported from Hong Kong to India, his assumed country of origin. He is ill, with not long to live. In a way he is at home everywhere and nowhere. He speaks many languages: Gujarati, Kutchi, English, Swahili, Swedish, Finnish, Spanish and German, but he has no genuine passport. He seems equally acquainted with Christianity and Islam as he is with world politics, but he has no formal education. No-one attends his funeral at the St James cemetery in Baroda. In this novel Aleksander Motturi traces the life of his father, the man who one day abandoned his wife and children and quite simply went up in smoke. He disappeared, only to return enmeshed in a web of deceit, making front page news in all the Swedish evening papers. So who was the man said to be buried in St James cemetery? The man who was known by many names but died as John Peter Daniels? Is he even dead? Or is his death feigned, to allow him to continue with his frauds? Aleksander Motturi s multilayered novel is partly about a man whose whole existence was built on a remarkable combination of total honesty and deception, and partly about those who were close to him, the family who, throughout the years, have swung between trying to understand, putting it behind them, forgiving, starting again, and finally, once and for all, distancing themselves from him. Svindlarprästen / The Swindling Priest is based on the author s father who lived as a conman. The case was reported in every newspaper and the Swindling Priest became part of 1980s vernacular. Press voices for Alexander Motturi s previous work: Among the best things about Aleksander Motturis fictional debut Diabetikern is that it so irresistibly strange./.../ The identity political reasonings are some of the funniest parts of this novel along with the cutting satirical depiction of the art world that the protagonist s girlfriend Natacha moves in. Svenska Dagbladet a solid novel, as screamingly funny as it is moving, sugar sick but never ingratiating nor sweet. Göteborgs-Posten

7 Literary fiction Karolina Ramqvist Karolina Ramqvist, born in 1976, is a journalist and author. For a long time she has been a powerful voice in social debate. She has written for Swedish national daily Dagens Nyheter and the magazine Bang. She was also editor in chief of Arena magazine. Her latest book Flickvännen / The Girlfriend, 2009, was nominated for Sveriges Radio s Novel Prize and awarded Vi Magazine s literature prize. It has been translated into several languages. Karolina Ramqvist Alltingsbörjan ROMAN ROMAN Alltings början Karolina Ramqvist Alltings början The Beginning of Everything June 2012, 389 pages Senior Editor: Eva Gedin Option publishers: Tiderne Skifter, Denmark Helsinki Books, Finland BBNC, Netherlands Gyldendal, Norway Daughter of a Modern Generation Saga remembers only too well the moment of her arrival. It would be strange if she didn t; every birthday her mother shows her the film of her birth, the moment when the tiny child who would become Saga was pushed into the world. Saga has longed for everything adult life has to offer. Her mother is an artist and a radical feminist and as the daughter of such a woman she is expected to be independent and take advantage of everything life has to offer. This is Stockholm in the 90s and Saga starts a new school and quickly makes friends. They spend their days drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes and whenever they can get in, they go to clubs. But Saga is plagued by a nagging sense of futility and the feeling that she ought to be doing something, like her mother s generation with their feminist movement, demonstrating for free abortion and nursery care. They had a goal and a purpose; Saga feels her generation is lacking exactly that. Saga and her friend Pauline spend a lot of time getting to know the right people; they sleep around, they party, they are free. For some time Saga has had Vikor Schantz in her sights. He is older, knows everyone and more to the point everyone wants to know him. They begin a relationship. Or rather, he allows her to have sex with him. He commands, she obeys. Their relationship is secret, destructive and degrading. There are other men in her life but the only one she really wants to be with is Viktor. Karolina Ramqvist s new novel Alltings början / The Beginning of Everything is the story of a young woman s passage through the stages of her youth, as she takes her first steps away from childhood and hurtles into an independent adult life. Written with boldness and clarity this is about a generation trapped between spoken and unspoken demands, and marked by a feeling of abandonment. Press voices for Karolina Ramqvist s previous work: A strong and important book about a woman who is held hostage in her own life. A definite four stars! Gomorron Sverige, Swedish Television Karolina Ramqvist wipes out the boundary between the normal majority and society s outsiders and the result is completely dazzling, I don t want her book to end. Amelia Magazine *5 out of 5*

8 Crime Fiction Hjorth & Rosenfeldt Michael Hjorth was born in 1963 in Visby. He is one of Scandinavia s most accomplished screenwriters and producers, and one of the founders of the internationally successful production company Tre Vänner. Hans Rosenfeldt was born in 1964 in Borås. He has written screenplays for twenty drama series and has hosted both radio and television shows. The Sebastian Bergman Series: 1. Det fördolda / Dark Secrets August 2010, 423 pages 2. Lärjungen / The Disciple August 2011, 417 pages 3. Fjällgraven / The Mountain Grave August 2012, 487 pages Senior Editor: Susanna Romanus Full English translation of Det fördolda available The Sebastian Bergman Series Scandinavia s hottest new crime writing duo Michael Hjorth and Hans Rosenfeldt got off to a flying start with the publication of their debut Det fördolda / Dark Secrets in With psychologist and profiler Sebastian Bergman an arrogant and narcissistic womanizer with a personal trauma in the lead role, Hjorth & Rosenfeldt had created an instant success. Months before Det fördolda was published in Sweden, translation rights were sold to nine countries. After the Swedish publication in August 2010, to great reviews, the novel could soon be found on the hardcover bestseller list, where it remained for eight months. So far Det fördolda has sold copies in Sweden. Lärjungen / The Disciple was published in August This second part in the series reveals to the readers even more about Sebastian Bergman, in a breath-taking roller coaster ride where Sebastian is confronted with his past, and with his nemesis. Since publication, Lärjungen has sold more than copies. The third part of the series, Fjällgraven / The Mountain Grave, will be published in August Rights to the Sebastian Bergman series have been sold to 19 countries to this date. Norway / Aschehoug Danmark / Hr Ferdinand Finland / Bazaar Iceland / Bjartur Germany / Rowohlt the Netherlands / De Bezige Bij France / Serpent à Plumes Italy / Einaudi Greece / Psichogios Poland / Czarna Owca Czech Republic / Host Russia / Corpus Romania / Editura Trei Hungary / Animus Turkey / Pegasus Brazil / Intrinseca Australia & New Zealand / Murdoch UK / Trapdoor/Little, Brown US / Grand Central The best Swedish crime export of Die Welt

9 Crime Fiction ROBERT KVIBY Robert Kviby, born 1976, lives in Stockholm and works as a market manager in a media company. De korrupta is his litterary debut and the first title in the series about Annie and Max Lander. De korrupta / The Corrupt Februari 2012, 311 pages Senior Editor: Annika Seward-Jensen, Telegram Sample translation and extensive summary in English available Rights sold to: Rowohlt, Germany Smart, Driven and Exciting to the Very Last Page They were all prostitutes. All under thirty. Found in wooded areas and parks. Naked. They had been killed elsewhere and dumped where their bodies were discovered. She was convinced it was systematic. All four of them had met the same man, and it had led to their deaths. Friday night, January 1989, criminal reporter Annie Lander is the last one left in the editorial office as usual. For some time she has been working on a story about four murdered prostitutes, convinced that there is a pattern between them. The talk of the town is that a private club hosts parties filled with prostitutes and that there might be connections to the murders. Then she is ordered by the newspaper to seize with her investigations. Annie continues on her own and is starting to get close, both to the real story about the women, as well as to the truth about her own life and the unsolved murder of her mother. And then suddenly she is gone. Annie s husband Max soon realizes that the police won t exert themselves to find her, that it is all up to him. He follows her investigation to a country manor owned by a powerful corporate magnate, close to where her mother had been found dead thirty years earlier. But nothing has prepared him for what he will find. De korrupta / The Corrupt is a thrilling read from the first page to the last. This impressive debut novel introduces Annie and Max Lander, and their crusade against the corrupt. Press voices: To the true conspiracy theorist, MTG-director Robert Kviby s hard-boiled detective story is a pleasure. To gather research Kviby has tiptoed around the Wanted editorial team and got inside info from various gentlemen s clubs. Well done! Metro

10 crime fiction Press voices for Kommer aldrig mer igen / Never Coming Back: Naturally Hans Koppel, alias Petter Lidbeck, should use his swift-minded punchy stile to write crime novels. Dagens Nyheter Koppel is a very fine writer but it s as a machine perfectly designed to provoke compulsive page-turning that makes this book so sensational. I read it in two long sessions and if you re the sort of person who doesn t need much sleep, you ll do it in one. Morning Star A supremely professional piece of work with a palpable sense of tension, and couched in unvarnished prose. The Independent crisp and simple yet devastatingly effective, this is an unrelenting, terrifying slab of a psychological thriller which ticks all the right boxes. Daily Mirror There are some fine stories out there and this is probably one of the best. 612 ABC Brisbane Radio It is exciting and there aren t many superfluous scenes here. It reminds me of Hitchcock s devilishly effective paranoia films /.../ Lidbeck/Koppel has a sure sense of style, not least when it comes to a genre where most Swedish thriller-writers fail: to write entertaining and hard-hitting dialogue which also moves the plot along. Helsingborgs Dagblad An icecold and cleverly composed thriller on guilt and revenge. Sydsvenskan Lidbeck is a skilled writer. Expressen If you like your books on the gritty and violent side it really isn t pretty in that cellar then why not try this harrowing tale of bitter revenge. Peterborough Evening Telegraph It is exciting form the first page to the last. The author builds up an infernal and nail-biting dramatic situation. DAST Magazine The Book of the Month (March 2011, Your Life Magazine): Hans Koppel s crime thriller is skilfully construed and sometimes really, really scary /.../ you are pushed along at a furious pace, curious as to how it will end. [Hans Koppel] writes refreshingly direct/.../ he touches upon loneliness and male friendship with sensitivity. Delightfully unpleasant read-in-one-go material, the plot is just bloody disgusting. Revenge is not just sweet; it can also be very, very raw which Hans Koppel proves to me in his new thriller. /.../ and although I have a suspicion how it will all end, I am sucked into the exciting plot and can t stop reading. I want more, more, more. A dense thriller of the suspenseful type with an unexpected ending. BTJ Hans Koppel s thriller debut is not for the faint of heart, because the Swedish author understands superbly how to spread fear and terror. He plays perfectly on the instruments of the genre and keeps up the tension literally until the last page. buchjournal Just 24 hours with a break of six hours sleep - that s all I needed to read Kommer aldrig mer igen. Despite it being a 350-page thick novel. But as soon as I had grabbed hold of Hans Koppel s debut novel, stopping was no longer an option. The Scandinavian author has achieved an incredibly engrossing thriller that is selling like hot cakes in ten countries already. Berliner Kurier The detective novel is strongly reminiscent of the fate of Natascha Kampusch, who was also kidnapped and held prisoner in a small basement room for more than 3069 days by her tormentors /.../ Hans Koppel presents in his debut thriller a psychological novel that skilfully mixes reality and fantasy into a dense fabric. Siegener Zeitung

11 Crime Fiction Hans Koppel Petter Lidbeck, born 1964, lives in Stockholm. Under the pseudonym Hans Koppel he has previously published three satirical novels about the Swedish middle class of today. Kommer aldrig mer igen / Never coming back is his first thriller in a planned trilogy, with an international touch and a fast-paced tempo. Kommer aldrig mer igen Never Coming Back January 2011, 251 pages Senior Editor: Annika Seward Jensen, Telegram English translation available Tidigare titlar av om Vi i villa (2008)»vårens bästa samtidsskildring«expressen»norénkänsla och humor i skön mix«aftonbladet»stilren och effektiv«svenska Dagbladet om Medicinen (2009)»synnerligen underhållande«tidningen Kulturen»humor och sanningar i en skruvad roman«tidningen Vi»ett riktigt lyckopiller«bibliotekstipset om Kungens födelsedag (2010)»Ett stycke lysande samtidssatir.«kristianstadsbladet»osviklig känsla för skenbart banala detaljer, distinktioner och tecken i tiden«dalarnas Tidning»dags att kliva ut på scenen och tacka för de väl förtjänta applåderna«sydsvenskan Sharp, Claustrophobic Page-Turner! A woman is held imprisoned just a stone s throw from her own home and she knows why: her past has caught up with her. The revenge that strikes her is cruel, drawn out and meticulously served. Mike Zetterberg, his wife Ylva and their daughter Sanna live in a house in Helsingborg in Southern Sweden. One Friday evening, Ylva doesn t come home after work as expected. Mike passes it off as a drink with a colleague, but when she s still missing the next day, he starts to worry. As Mike battles suspicion from the police and his own despair, he is unaware that Ylva is still alive, just a stone s throw from their own home. On a TV screen in the cellar where Ylva is kept, she can see what happens outside her own home. She can catch glimpses of Mike and Sanna, how their everyday life goes on in her absence but Ylva s abductors make it clear that she will never speak to them again. Through degrading treatment and rape she is going to be taught, just like a girl Ylva knew many years ago, that her life is not worth living. And just like her, Ylva s only way out of this hell is to take her own life... In Kommer aldrig mer igen / Never Coming Back Hans Koppel paints, in his characteristically sharp prose, a claustrophobic nightmare where evil deeds even those seemingly buried in the dust of time never go unpunished. Rights sold to: Little, Brown, UK Pegasus, US Front Forlag, Norway Bruna, the Netherlands Heyne, Germany Presses de la Cité, France Piemme, Italy Ayrinti, Turkey Eurasian, Taiwan Weltbild/Swiat Ksiazki, Poland Verus/ Record Publishing Group, Brazil copies have been sold in the UK and in Sweden. The second novel is scheduled for publication in 2013.

12 Literary fiction Mikael Bergstrand Mikael Bergstrand is a journalist and author from Malmö, in the south of Sweden. For the last few years, he has lived with his family in New Delhi but has now moved back to Sweden. Delhis vackraste händer The most beautiful hands in Delhi September 2011, 329 pages Senior Editor: Susanna Romanus Sample translation in English available Sold in copies Rights sold to: Modtryk, Denmark Aschehoug, Norway Bazar, Finland Signatuur, the Netherlands btb, Germany Piemme, Italy La Campana, Spain (Catalan) Gaïa, France Alfaguara, Spain (Spanish) Humour, Warmth and Unexpected Meetings In Delhis vackraste händer / The Most Beautiful Hands in Delhi, a middle-aged Swedish man meets the bustling and colourful life in India and encounters unexpected passion where he least expected to find it. Mikael Bergstrand describes this meeting with warmth and with a large portion of humour. Göran Borg is what you might call a loser : middle-aged, increasingly chubby, and without ambitions. His waking hours are mostly spent on reading a fan blog for football and thinking about his ex-wife, who left him 8 years, 4 months and 3 days ago. This is his every-day life until one day when he suddenly gets fired (due to extensive surfing on said fan blog for football) and is given a year s worth of salary in compensation. When Göran has processed the worst of his bitterness, he decides to join his best friend Erik on a group trip to India. But the trip doesn t at all turn out the way Göran expected; already at the airport Erik abandons him for the company of a hot, young girl in the group, and once they have arrived Göran is struck with a horrible case of the Delhi Belly. Sick, alone and deserted at a shabby hotel in Jaipur, Göran awaits his inevitable death. But then Yogendra Yogi Singh Thakur walks through the door, a spirited textile merchant armed to the teeth with inexhaustible optimism. With Yogi by his side, Göran is taken on an inner and outer journey through India, filled with adventure, strong friendship and intense love. Press voices: Bridget Jones goes 52-year old flabby football nerd Tara Yogendra Singh Thakur, I would gladly meet him again. Sydsvenskan It is impossible to write a reflection on India better than Shantaram, but Mikael Bergstrand succeeds in bringing the readers along to filthy backyards, spicy smells and brightly coloured saris Metro Incredibly funny book. I appoint it the next Centenarian-success. Radio P4, Värmland It is so joyful and entertaining to read. You are coming along on a delightful journey /.../ With a smile on your face you join Göran on his adventures. Radio P4, Halland

13 Literary fiction sigrid combüchen Sigrid Combüchen lives in Lund. She has written several novels that have been widely praised by the critics, and made a major breakthrough in 1988 with Byron. Honoured with a number of awards, she has also been nominated for the August Prize several times before winning it for Spill in Spill En damroman Waste A ladies novel August 2010, 450 pages, Senior Editor: Eva Gedin Awarded The August Prize 2010 More than copies sold Full German and Italian translations and sample translation in English available Rights sold to: Antje Kunstman, Germany Agora, Norway Tiderne Skifter, Denmark Ponte alle Grazie, Italy De Geus, the Netherlands Gondolat Kiadó, Hungary BCC Publishing, Romania MIS Publishing, Slovenia A Ladies Novel An author receives a letter from an observant reader. The letter is written by an elderly lady on the sunny Spanish coast who recognises herself on a family photograph described in one of the author s novels. The picture of the Carlsson family in which Hedda is the only daughter becomes more complex through the letters of the old Hedda and what the author reads from other sources. Parallel to this, a story of Hedda comes into being. About how her entire life came to be formed by chance occurrences and spontaneous decisions when she was nineteen years old. Circumstances, or fate, blew her off the calm course that seemed to be taken for granted for a girl from the upper middle classes. And we know now that she ended up a housewife and now a pensioner in southern Spain. Between the author and the old Hedda, a tug of war develops over how this should be interpreted. The author falls in love with the past and that which never came to be; Hedda is interested in the present as it is, and she protests against the idea that her life might have been wasted. Press voices: With the distracted elegance of a master, such that needs long experience and hard work to achieve, Sigrid Combüchen captivates the reader / / With her new novel Spill, Combüchen has as usual made a revolutionary literary achievement and I find the book, as you will have understood, a success down to the last detail. Sydsvenskan Sigrid Combüchen is, without a doubt one of the most sophisticated of contemporary authors stylistically, technically and thematically. This she exhibits with amazing emphasis in her new novel Spill, which is formally perfect and one can more or less say that it overtakes all the prose writing of today. /.../ It is quite simply a completely priceless novel about the deepest of human concerns, despite all the differences we share. It must be read. Svenska Dagbladet With Spill, Sigrid Combüchen has written her most outstanding and challenging novel. Magazine Kulturen Sigrid Combüchen has perfect pitch in her writing and this makes Spill a joy to read. Femina Secret trysts that give you goose bumps Tidningen VI

14 Literary fiction Anneli Jordahl Anneli Jordahl, born 1960, is an author and literary critic. Her first novel, published in 2009, was highly appreciated by the media and also took its starting point from a historical period and described a few years of the life of author Ellen Key. Augustenbad en sommar Augustenbad, One Summer August 2011, 227 pages Senior Editor: Håkan Bravinger Rights sold to: Vega, Norway Suhrkamp, Germany A Summer of Spa June early 1890s, poet Andreas Öman arrives in the small provincial spa town of Augustenbad. It soon becomes evident that he has not journeyed here out of his own free will, rather he is obeying orders from his wealthy wife and her family. Reluctantly, Andreas steps into the consulting room of the renowned Dr Arvid Liljedahl. Andreas is given information about the chronic toxic illness that is poisoning his brain and should therefor be treated with daily baths in water at 6 degree Celsius and by following the doctor s ninety-nine rules down to the last detail. Andreas is not impressed and he continuously tries to avoid or break the doctor s advice and rules. Trying to handle the effects of his abstinence, he takes long nightly walks and encounters sleepless Amanda Eggerts, the severely syphilis-strucken wife of a Justice Counsellor, who keeps herself out at nights and out of sight. Andreas is captivated by her beauty and is attracted to her despite her face being covered with nasty boils. Andreas also gets to know a young girl with bright eyes who irons the first-class-residents attire. In a drunken haze during the traditional Midsummer Festivities, he seduces her with tragic results. In Augustenbad en sommar / Augustenbad, One Summer, people from different social classes meet in an age marked by syphilis, morphine addiction and large class dividends. Press voices: A book you read slowly to make it last for a long time. Ystads Allehanda Anneli Jordahl manages to include a lot in her novel; class structure, quackery, love, betrayal. But nowhere does she get lost or loses her grip on the story. Instead it becomes a poetic tale. Tara Anneli Jordahl s prose rests solidly on nicely carved 1890s legs, and contributes to making Augustenbad en sommar a well realized novel, which makes me grateful that I was not a woman alive just over a hundred years ago. Svenska Dagbladet What a wonderful novel Västerbottens-Kuriren

15 Literary fiction Amanda svensson Amanda Svensson is 24 years old and lives in Malmö. She has studied creative writing at Fridhem s College and works as a journalist at Sydsvenska Dagbladet and Expressen. Hey Dolly, published in 2008, was her much acclaimed debut. Välkommen till den här världen Welcome to This World September 2011, 208 pages Senior Editor: Håkan Bravinger Sample translation in English available Rights sold to: Actes Sud, France Welcome to This World Amanda Svensson is back after her much-praised debut Hey Dolly, this time with a love triangle set in Malmö and Copenhagen. Greta works in a hip wok house, but dreams of becoming a DJ. She lives in a communal household with two selfcentred, pretentious boys using her as a muse. All the more desperate, she needs a change in her life. Then one day she meets Simon who is the best triangle drawer in Copenhagen. He is not like anyone she has ever met before. With Simon comes Claus. It soon becomes clear that this is not a golden triangle, but one that inevitably must break. One of them must go the question is who? Amanda Svensson s longed-for second novel is a story of three people who all feel increasingly lost in their social context. Three people all in need to be understood. Press voices: Amanda Svensson s language is reminiscent of nothing short of contemporary poetry. It is constantly flexible and sensitive, with an unpredictability often verging on the lyrical. / /an absolute pleasure to read someone who has so totally understood and exploited the full potential of language. Sydsvenskan An experimental and playful story, characterized by both suffering and humour. Kristianstadsbladet. Masterly, to say the least. Smålandsposten Fiercly skillful and brilliantly clever, yes, but I m not sure what I can say about Amanda Svensson s world without coming across like a salesperson making a pitch for the latest miracle medicine. Here s the point - if all authors were endowed with her literary energy and whimsy, then every book would be worth reading./ / The story itself has excellent structure, but what you really take away from the book is the language - one moment low, the next moment high, over-the-top then precise, and at no point does the writing feel anything other than just right. Svenska Dagbladet The style is exuberant, energetic and poetic. / / Amanda means someone worthy of love. I love this Svensson. Hudiksvalls Tidning I m in love with a book. / / Amanda Svensson s language is both playful and endlessly energetic, skillfully contained within the bounding limits of pure genius. Norrköpings Tidningar

16 Literary fiction lena einhorn Lena Einhorn is an author and a successful filmmaker and director. She received the prestigious August Prize (2005) for her book Ninas resa / Nina s Journey and the film with the same name was awarded two Guldbagge for best film and best manuscript. Siri is her much longed-for literary debut. Siri August 2011, 350 pages, Senior Editor: Eva Gedin copies sold Lead title in major book club I Need Battles to be Happy! Siri wants to become an actress, it has always been her burning passion, ever since she was a little child. But as a baroness, and particularly one married to a captain of the guards, she can of course under no circumstances enter the stage. Siri von Essen really does leave everything behind in order to fulfill her dreams; she leaves her husband and child and everything common convention demands to lead her new life with August Strindberg. She is welcomed into the circle of authors, artists and actors around Strindberg, and manages, despite the social conventions, to establish an acting career within the national royal theatre, Dramaten. But life doesn t turn out as happily as she had hoped, and as far as battles are concerned, Siri would soon have more than she bargained for. Lena Einhorn describes a strong woman with an appetite for life, a woman who dares to break the social rules of her time, and especially those of her own class. Press voices: Einhorn convinces and brings to life Aftonbladet A powerful drama / / Lena Einhorn skillfully builds a convincing psychological study of two people who seem to be made for each other, but she naturally reserves her sympathies for Siri, who exchanges a prison for a lunatic asylum. Dagens Nyheter Well-known drama elegantly told /.../ Einhorn gives new life and a new approach to these two personalities, strained to the point of breaking. We are familiar with the story, but her psychological interpretation and the reader are held in a firm grip. Sundsvalls Tidning Einhorn has written a sad, beautiful story Smålandsposten the novel about Siri von Essen is so gripping and well written that I want to bang my fist on the table. Helsingborgs Dagblad Siri is such a captivating story that you devour the book in one sitting. I am convinced that Einhorn s fictional debut will recieve a large readership. Norrköpings Tidningar Love that stings Folkbladet the book speaks straight to my heart. Tara

17 narrative non-fiction Ingrid Carlberg Ingrid Carlberg is a journalist and author. She worked for the major Swedish daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, for the last 20 years. Her latest book, Pillret / The Pill, was awarded no less than three prizes among them Guldspaden, for best investigative journalism Det står ett rum här och väntar på dig - Berättelsen om Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Wallenberg - a Biography May 2012, 750 pages Senior Editor: Stefan Hilding Sample translation in English available A truly fascinating, subtle and revelatory portrait of this enigmatic character and perhaps the closest any historian has got to the real man and the truth of his fate. Simon Sebag Montefiore Raoul Wallenberg had envisioned a different life. He sought no hero role and no real adventure. In the spring of 1944, he would turn 32 years old and he worked for a small trading company that imported geese, turkeys and egg powder from Hungary. He was trained as an architect, went for a career in business but found it difficult to find his ways. Then the Holocaust came to Hungary. An American-Swedish Rescue Action for the last remnants of Europe s Jewish population was discussed. Swedish Government was urged to send someone. But who? A series of coincidences meant that all eyes fell on the food retailer Raoul Wallenberg. Six months later, thousands of Hungarian Jews had the young Swede to thank for their lives. In January 1945 Raoul Wallenberg voluntarily went to meet the Soviet troops in a bombed out Budapest. He would never return to Sweden. Det står ett rum här och väntar på dig is not only a great story that will take your breath away. It is also the result of an historical research effort in up until now unknown and unexploited archives. For the first time ever, the full story of Raoul Wallenberg is presented, using all the sources available today - his childhood and early career in Stockholm during the War, the dramatic short six months in Budapest, the circumstances surrounding his arrest and imprisonment in the Soviet Union, and the lengthy political game about his fate until this day. For the first time we get to follow Raoul Wallenberg s family through the entire series of tragic diplomatic failures, which led to him never coming back. The story sheds new light on why it was that Raoul Wallenberg in the late seventies was highlighted as an American hero and became a high priority in the White House. The author Ingrid Carlberg has with scientific precision produced a shattering reading experience, where famous characters in history come to life. The person Raoul Wallenberg emerges from the shadows, as well as his life in Moscow prisons. Recurrent connections to recent history creates a deeper understanding of what really happened and why.

18 narrative non-fiction Daniel Goldberg & Linus Larsson Daniel Goldberg och Linus Larsson are two of Sweden s most well known techand IT journalists. Their articles have been published in among others, Washington Post and quoted in BBC News, The New York Times och The Sydney Morning Herald. Svenska hackare / Swedish Hackers 316 pages, Published in April 2011 Senior Editor: Stefan Skog Swedish Hackers This is a book about people, not about machines. A story about the motley crew of people who are lumped together under the name hackers, and a look into one of the most mythical sub-cultures of our time. In this book you will meet several of them. Sixteen-yearold Philip from Uppsala, who fooled both the FBI and the most important IT-experts in the American universities for several years while a world-wide IT-security affair was unravelled around him. Vuxna Förbannade Hackare Adult Angry Hackers the mysterious hacker group who led a wave of comprehensive attacks against Swedish companies and web sites during the winter of 2007 and spring of The Swedish net activists who played a role in everything from file-sharing debates to votes in the European Parliament and the Green revolution in Iran. The book is an attempt at putting these stories in a larger context, at letting you get a look inside a world that can best be described as the digital underground. They are true stories, taken from a contemporary Sweden where the established power finds it all the harder to retain control of technology and information. On the way, we get to meet the people behind many of the most spectacular cases of unauthorized access to computer systems in our days. Press voices: Goldberg and Larsson are gifted with a stylistic ability to make the technical arguments understandable. Folkbladet Swedish Hackers is the story of how advanced technology quickly fell into the hands of the public and the strange effects it had. Everything written in a prose that gives people with a brand new computer license an actual chance to keep up. And yes, it ends with some good safety tips. Don t forget to update your virus protection now. Aftonbladet Some are idealists, other criminals. The thing they all have in common is that they know everything about computers and they use anonymous aliases. In the book Swedish hackers Linus Larsson and Daniel Goldberg describe a mythical subculture where only one thing counts - who s the best. Dagens Nyheter

19 narrative non-fiction Daniel Goldberg & Linus Larsson Minecraft October 2012, 236 pages, Senior Editor: Stefan Skog Minecraft - A Success Story Markus Persson, to most of his fans know as Notch, has become a legend. He is an inspiration and a beacon for thousands of small-scale game developers all over the world. But outside the video game industry, pretty much nobody has heard of him. Three years ago, Markus Persson was a bored it-developer in Stockholm, spending his days at a mundane software development firm. In the evenings, he toiled away on a labour of love: an obscure game to be played online. The game was called Minecraft. Markus released it to the world in early At first hardly anyone cared, but the rumour of the ingeniously simple game quickly spread. Today, Minecraft (named one of the top 50 inventions of 2011 by Time Magazine) is a global phenomenon and Markus Persson is a multi millionaire and in the world of computer games, he is a superstar - over half a million people follow his movements on twitter. Minecraft is more than a game, more like doing something together with others, it s quite similar to a digital Lego box and a Minecraft-Lego is actually being produced. Almost anything can be built into the game s block-and pixel world, to fill it with construction together with other players is the aim. Minecraft is an unparalleled success, with twenty million registered users and thousands of fans who gather at Minecraft conventions, dressed up as their favourite characters from the game. In hundreds of schools throughout Europe and the US, Minecraft is being introduced as a teachers tool in helping young children understand concepts such as teamwork, social codes, engineering and computer science skills. Minecraft is one of the fastest growing cultural phenomena of the internet age. In 2012 Norstedts will publish the first book on Minecraft, for which the authors have interviewed creator and online legend Notch. It is a gripping and heartwarming tale that has never been told in full before, of one man s unlikely rise from rags to riches. It is also an in-depth case study of a phenomenon that is changing global youth culture and challenging established billiondollar business models through the disruptive power of the internet.

20 narrative non-fiction Jesper Bengtson Jesper Bengtsson is a journalist and author. He has followed developments in Burma for more than ten years. Jesper is the chairman of the Swedish section of Reporters sans frontières [Reporters Without Borders]. Aung San Suu Kyi En kamp för frihet Aung San Suu Kyi A biography New updated edition! November 2011, 263 pages Senior Editor: Stefan Skog Rights sold to: Spartacus, Norway Minerva, Finland HarperCollins, Australia Potomac Books, USA Amaryllis, India De Geus, The Netherlands Morning Star, Taiwan Aung San Suu Kyi A Biography In May 2010, Norstedts published Jesper Bengtsson s biography on Burma opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in November 2010 and in February 2011 Jesper Bengtsson managed to interview her. In November 2011, the revised and updated version of this celebrated biography was released. We sit down in a sofa a few feet away from each other. She seems relaxed and perfectly composed. I ask her about her energy and apparently good mood. It s not strange at all, she says with an ironic glimpse in her eyes. The military gave me seven years of rest, so now I m full of energy to continue my work. That s mildly spoken an interesting approach to time, that someone with a less optimistic view on life would define as wasted. But that s how she seems to be, this Nobel Prize laureate and democratic icon. She has survived all these years of isolation by embracing it and pick out the up sides rather than the obvious down sides. Press voices: To anyone who wants to try to understand why, I highly recommended Burma scholar Jesper Bengtsson s initiated, highly readable biography. Östgöta Correspondenten An excellent biography Tidningen Ångermanland An engaging and believable portrait of a remarkable woman who stands out against the harrowing backdrop of Burma s sad story, that Bengtsson know better than most. I confess: my admiration is endless. Dagens Nyheter Read this book. Not to get an objective analysis of Aung San Suu Kyi s political achievements, but to get a background and understanding of why she has been under house arrest for 14 of the last 20 years and why she chose not to travel to her husband s deathbed in March Norra Skåne