Norstedts Agency · Britta Röstlund’s novel debut is a tour ... I’m waiting for Monsieur...

Norstedts Agency

Norstedts Agency houses authors and their works in the line of fiction, general non-fiction and illustrated non-fiction. Our aim is to make international publishers aware of the best that Swedish publishing has to offer. We dare to lift new literary voices at the same time as we uphold the rights of the established ones. Every year our list reflects Norstedts publish-ing house’s by selecting the very best from it.

Norstedts Agency, fiction & general non-fictionLinda Altrov Berg, Rights Director, [email protected], Phone: +46 10 744 20 33Catherine Mörk, Rights Manager, [email protected], Phone: +46 10 744 20 34Gunilla Carlsson, Rights Coordinator, [email protected], Phone: +46 10 744 21 65

Norstedts Agency, Illustrated non-fictionPetra Ward, Rights Manager, [email protected], Phone: +46 10 744 22 00

Norstedts works with the following literary scoutsDaniel Aragó & Carmen Pinilla, Spain & Germany • Cristina De Stefano, Italy & France • Bettina Schrewe, USA

We work with the following co-agents for fiction & general non-fictionAnatoliaLit, Turkey • Book/lab, Poland • Grayhawk, Taiwan & China • MOMO, Korea • Red Ink, India • Tassy Barham, Brazil • Tuttle-Mori, Japan & Thailand

For more information about our bookswww.norstedtsagency.sewww.facebook.com/norstedtsagency/To sign up for our newsletter, please contact Gunilla Carlsson

Hello Diversity!This year we have spent time with the most interesting and diverse protagonists: Mancebo on his stool on Boulevard des Batignolles in Paris; Jeanette, a widow obsessed with work-place accidents and Angela Davis; a ‘she’ and a ‘he’ who definitively should have split up sooner; Anette, a competent and persistent detective inspector at the Swedish Security Service; Maria, who struggles to unite her family life with a desire to fulfil herself in accordance with the tune of the time; and finally an “I” who is quite somebody, a character who won’t let anyone decide for her whether her life with drugs and sex is acceptable or not. In other words, we are once again proud to introduce this season’s list with our selection of Norstedts’ finest authors and books. Enjoy!

PS. In two years we will all most certainly be reminded that the great Ingmar Bergman was born 100 years ago. Please get in touch with us if you want to know more about the rights to the impressive backlist, as well as to new, never previously published pieces. We are very much looking forward to seeing a new generation of readers discover Bergman’s outstanding work!

Linda Altrov BergRights Director Norstedts Agency

Cover design: Karin Roberts (from Britta Röstlund’s Vid foten av Montmartre)

norstedts agency www.norstedtsagency.se

[email protected]@[email protected]



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Fiction • New

In chapters by turns we follow the two thre-ads of action as they weave together. The plot is funny and exciting in an alluring Godot-style, set in a well-captured and vivid Paris filled with interesting and unique characters. It is a genuine tale about a city and the peo-ple who live there, and about chance, sugges-tive of Paul Auster’s early works and Short Cuts. Britta Röstlund’s novel debut is a tour de force, and with heightened curiosity and fascination we follow Mancebo and Helena all the way to the surprising end.

From the sample translation:‘Are you waiting for Monsieur Bellivier, madame?’ The question was asked formally, as if the answer itself were unnecessary. The question was more of a set phrase, a greet-ing or a message. Thinking back, the words were more of a code than a question. There was no hope in it, nothing personal, no emo-tional expression whatsoever. I shook my head quickly, almost instinctively. The man

looked at me, as if to give me time to change my mind. He took several steps back and re-turned to his place in the middle of the café, then started scanning the customers again. I studied him, and became convinced that it must be a woman who was waiting for Monsieur Bellivier. All of a sudden he was at another woman’s side, asking her the same question. She shook her head. I put a full stop at the end of a sentence and studied the woman. She had brown hair in a pageboy style, like me. /.../ The man was still standing in the café. He had decided to find out who was expect-ing Monsieur Bellivier. That was when I had the idea. It was a banal act in itself, but it both frightened and attracted me. The man was looking out over the café guests again. I beckoned him over. The first step. A slight movement of the hand. He did not look surprised, more embarrassed that I had not waved him over sooner.

‘Yes, I’m waiting for Monsieur Bellivier.’

Waiting for Monsieur BellivierAt 73 Boulevard des Batignolles, Mancebo tends to his little grocery. He lives with his wife Fatima in a flat just two stories up from the shop and spends every afternoon with his cousin Tariq. A content life of long-accustomed habits and rou-tines, where every conversation follows the same groove.

Then one day Madame Cat turns up at the store, giving Mancebo a mission. Against payment, she asks him to spy on her hus-band, who she fears is having an affair. Sur-prisingly, even to himself, he accepts and in a beat Mancebo’s life if changed forever. The mission causes Mancebo to start noticing the world which passes outside his shop. He becomes attentive, curious, and soon aware also about other things around him, making him question all he’s taken for granted about his loved ones.

Not too far away the story’s ‘I’, a freelance journalist named Helena Folasadu, is sitting

at a café. She’s in the middle of writing an article on ‘top sights in Paris’ when a man comes up to her and asks if she is waiting for Monsieur Bellivier. At first she refuses, but then an impulse makes her say yes. Next thing she knows she has accepted a job to for-ward cryptic emails to Monsieur B at a desk in an otherwise empty office floor. The pros-pect of a scoop attracts her, but perhaps even more so the considerable pay she has been promised at the end of the three week con-tract period. Every day she goes to the office, and every afternoon a big flower bouquet awaits her in the reception. To take it home doesn’t feel right, so sometimes she gives it away, sometimes she leaves it on an un- attended grave at the Jewish cemetery close by. But even an innocent gift such as a bou-quet bear consequences and soon Helena is drawn into other people’s lives and dramas, and new bonds of friendships are formed. And there is still the mystery of Monsieur B to reveal.

Britta RöstlundBritta Röstlund lives in Paris since fifteen years, from where she freelances for Swed-ish media. She reports on everything from the Paris fashion week to the political state of France.

UK publication in July 2017 For US & Canadian rights: [email protected]@orionbooks.co.uk

Vid foten av MontmartreWaiting for Monsieur Bellivierby Britta RöstlundSeptember 2016, 375 pagesSenior Editor: Susanna Romanus

Sample translation and extensive synopsis availableFull English translation available soon!

Rights sold to: Blanvalet, Germany • JC Lattès, France • Marsilio, Italy • Bookpark/Red Stone, Korea • Wei-denfeld & Nicolson, World English • Bezige Bij, the Netherlands

britta röstlund

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• Varrak, Estonia • Zvaigzne, Latvia • Centre-polygraph, Russia

WAITING FOR MONSIEUR BELLIVIERby Britta Röstlund

Quotes from the Publishers“Britta Röstlund is a fantastic observer and her choice of characters stands out. She embroiders her universe so skilfully that I find myself in Montmartre and in the lives of Mancebo and Helena. Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier is an enigmatic debut novel about daring to step out of the ordinary.”

Susanna Romanus, Publishing Manager & Senior Editor, Norstedts

“An unusual rendering of Parisian life, that has more to do with Modiano’s exis-tentialist suspence novels than the classic French feel-good genre. In a vivid and multicolored setting, Röstlund unfolds the lives of a North-African grocer and of a young woman on a secret mission. Both stories told against the beautiful backdrop of a Parisian quartier and its inhabitants.”

Gunilla Sondell, Acquiring Editor Latin Languages, Norstedts

“I love the book. My team loves the book. And our feeling has been strongly con-firmed by the booksellers’ reactions. No other Swedish publisher has a book like this on their list this year.” Anders Toll, Sales Director, Norstedts

“I was already quite excited about this novel, but after reading the gener-ous sample translation and hearing the positive opinion of our Swedish reader, I am convinced that this would be a great fit for the more upmarket section of our list – this is charming, life-affirming, quietly funny and most importantly, entertaining in the best way.” Johanna Bedenk, Acquiring Editor, Blanvalet

“Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier goes straight to the heart. With an original plot, a smart construction and colourful, complex and likeable characters, Britta Röstlund manages to create her own micro-cosmos in a popular, multi-faceted Paris, far from the el-egance of Champs Élysées or the emblematic Eiffel Tower. A whole little world packed with surprises and unexpected meetings which in-between also give the reader cause for thoughts. It is entertaining, it is unexpected and it is well-written.”

Eva Bredin-Wachter, Commissioning Editor, JC Làttes

“Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier is a novel about strange awakenings and even stranger possibilities. Set in the shadow of Montmartre, it follows two people, both downtrodden by life, who accept missions from strangers against their better judge-ment. These missions will take them from mysterious, abandoned offices to places which hold the secrets of the dead, and finally lead them back to themselves. Com-bining warmth with a delicious sense of opportunity, it is a novel about living life more fully.

I was enamoured by the setting, the characters and the irresistible twistiness of the plot. Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier invites comparisons to Jonas Jonasson and The Elegance of the Hedgehog but has a charm which is very much its own.”

Sophie Buchan, Senior Commissioning Editor, Weidenfeld & Nicolson

“It is clever, an absorbing good read, it has suspense and warmth. It’s exactly the kind of book I was looking for to start the new upmarket list at Marsilio: Well-written fiction with quality, that arouses curiosity and stir emotions.

By reading you will hear echoes of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, discover-ing that Paris can be so different from so many picture postcards we are used to find in most feel-good novels.

Britta Röstlund has created an entertaining story which shows at the same time a deep understanding of the human being. A brilliant debut, with a detective story atmosphere, full of twists, tension and tenderness, with believable and empa-thetic characters, that reveals a lot about life.”

Francesca Varotto, Editorial Director, Marsilio & Sonzogno



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Fiction • New

Tone SchunnessonTone Schunnesson, born in 1988, has attended The Writing School at Biskops Arnö and is currently studying philosophy at the Univeristy of Södertörn in Stockholm.

Tripprapporter is her debut.

Trip Reports“I am whole. I am a perfect machine. God has touched me and seen my misery and told me to live the way I do because I am his perfect daugh-ter. I move through life with my loneliness and my abandonment and I am proud and great, in-vincible, nothing in life can be wrong because I am perfect. I am so beautiful, I am so beautiful. I am alone. I am ugly, I am disgusting.”

She is all the time living on the edge, using others and letting herself be used. Constant-ly trying to get away from people that she owes and guards herself from the sentiments of her memories by never stop drinking.

Although sometimes she does sober up and then the thought occurs: Could there yet be someone that could save her, among the few people she loves or have loved? Can one be saved if one doesn’t fully want to?

Tone Schunnesson’s debut novel is an un-compromising and poetic journey exploring a young woman’s mental state.

Press voices:“Tone Schunnesson writes in an intense, rhythmic ongoing, using concrete as well as poetical metaphors. /…/ An accomplished, outstanding debut, confident and poig nant – a depiction of rampant addiction and lone-liness, tattered self-consumption and self-aggrandizement, and of writing as a possible way out.” Swedish Radio

“a delightfully rebellious little novel at high speed, on the road, yet stationary in all its longing desperation and repeated attempts to escape. /.../ Schunnesson’s language is at the same time poetic and grandiose – or gro-tesque, in both large and small.” Expressen

TripprapporterTrip Reports by Tone SchunnessonSeptember 2016, 169 pagesSenior Editor: Håkan BravingerSample translation available in October

Rights sold to: Btb/Luchterhand, Germany

“No sentence is without sin, every syllable is beautiful. Tripprapporter shows us a writing which I hope and believe will inspire a new generation of female writers to be every-thing at once; dirty, beautiful and angry at the society rather than with themselves.”Sydsvenskan

“How liberating to find a female protagonist as unsympathetic, self-absorbed and disloyal as this – a rare and therefore more than wel-come character in literature.” Svenska Dagbladet

“The text is written without seat belt and safe word, even with life put at stake. It’s hu-morous, lyrical, hard-boiled, exhibitionistic and poetic.” Aftonbladet

“This literary road movie has a way of explor-ing how the poetics of an acid trip resembles literature, a quest that reminds you of the Beat Generation of seekers.” Dala-Demokraten

“Women are rarely depicted in such a harsh, solitary and remorseless way.” Skånska Dagbladet

Celebrated debut!



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MiiraMiia has finally been able to leave the home language class and the unfree elementary school years behind her. Now is the time to be free and awesome! Hard studies at the gymnasium, becoming a pro. In neuro sur-gery. Leave home, making out brutally with anyone she wants to. Get rid of the cleaning job too.

But the road is winding, the life twitching, and Miira is bruised by the crashes. Despite that she refuses to give up. With a firing wild will she strikes her way free through the ob-structions in a rigid segregated system.

Miira is the highly anticipated sequel to In-genbarnsland.

No Child’s LandMiira 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.

Eija Hetekivi Olsson’s eye-opening debut novel Ingenbarnsland is set in the Goth-enburg suburbs in the eighties, and we fol-low the girl Miira from her pre-adolescence 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 re-cent years fiction.

Miiraby Eija Hetekivi OlssonSeptember 2016, 309 pagesSenior Editor: Susanna Romanus

IngenbarnslandNo Child’s LandJanuari 2012, 328 pages20 000 copies sold!

Rights sold to: Schildts & Söderströms, FinlandCappelen Damm, Norway

Eija Hetekivi OlssonEija Hetekivi Olsson, born in 1973, grew up in the Gothenburg suburbs Gårdsten and Bergsjön. She has worked as clean-er and waitress, before she went back to school and studied to become a teacher.

In 2012 Norstedts published her highly praised literary debut Ingenbarnsland. The novel was awarded the Katapult Prize for best debut, along with several other priz-es, and was also shortlisted for the August Prize and Swedish Radio’s Novel Prize. Theatre rights are sold and a film produc-tion based upon the novel will commence this summer.

Eija hetekivi olssonFiction • new

Press voices for Miira:“Eija Hetekivi Olsson’s sequel to her brutal and affecting novel Ingenbarnsland about the child Miira is just as intense as her de-but. What a wonderful gift to us readers. Thanks!” Västerviks-Tidningen

“One of the most fun things of being a lit-erary critic is that you sometimes, maybe once every three years, get to read a book that you have longed for without knowing it. Eija Hetekivi Olsson’s novel Miira is such a book. /.../ The language makes its way, just as Miira, with tremendous force. I realize what I’ve missed in contemporary prose: frontal attack.” Dagens Nyheter

“One must love Miira. Anything else is im-possible, although you can be scared of her bone-crushing handshake. Eija Hetekivi Ols-son’s strength is the frenesy, playfulness and the pulse of her language” Svenska Dagbladet

“Hetekivi Olsson continues to magnify the space and tone of Swedish literature. It’s a real blessing.” Aftonbladet

“Hetekivi Olsson keeps a tight rein on Miira, her protagonist’s language generates the sto-ry through its use of groundbreaking compo-sitions, dialect and slang. / ... / It is a delight to spend time with Miira” Expressen

“The working-class-girl perspective shines through in every sentence. You can smell the booze-ups and you understand exactly what a boss’ shirt is when linguistic equilibrist Eija Hetekivi Olsson steals my attention /.../ Eija Hetekivi Olsson writes with perfect pitch, a burning intensity and a great love for the teenage girl Miira.” Femina

“Throughout the novel there is an attack, a linguistic energy that is equally abundant and sharp.” Borås Tidning



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Fiction • New

The theme in Anneli Jordahl’s new novel is how to find the inner strength to pursue the dream of obtaining redress. Jordahl once again convinces in her depiction of a fate both mundane and out-of-the-ordinary in a language perfectly tuned, and with it she pinpoints universal matters of heart.

Press voices:“She deserves a place among Sweden’s fore-most working-class writers through the his-tory of Swedish literature.” Östersunds-Posten

“A humorous and warm novel, a provincial depiction with a glimpse of the urban world.”Dagens Nyheter

“To acquaint oneself with Jeanette’s thoughts filtered through Jordahl’s sarcasms is a plea-sure. /.../ As a story about identification and a wish to express sympathy, this novel func-tions excellently.” Nordvästa Skånes Tidningar

Anneli Jordahl’s book is one of the most im-portant this autumn, /.../ a powerful voice that needs to be listened to!” Dala-Demokraten

“interesting Som hundarna i Lafayette Park, an existential novel about the widow Jean-ette, home helper with disability pension, who uses her significantly described loneli-ness to explore the connection between class och ethnicity. Read it!” Ebba Witt-Brattström in Klasskampens Bokmagasinet

“Anneli Jordahl gives us an unsentimental portrait of a grieving woman and enlightens us, in a compassionate way, about the injus-tices of a world that divides people by skin color and class. A reading that affects, prov-ing that the working-class perspective is more relevant than ever.”M-magazine

“An effective story, vibrant with suppressed anger and kitchen sink realism.” Aftonbladet

Like the Dogs in Lafayette ParkI thought of what Boris said when he was at the most enamored with me: ‘You are not common people, Jeanette.’

Jeanette lives alone and on meager means in the countryside. Her only companion is the dog Boris, named after her husband who was killed in a workplace accident a few years ago. She treasures her memories of Boris fondly; their trips with the caravan to the south of France, his love for French films and wines. Still her life with Boris was not uncompli-cated, and towards the end it seemed almost like he was one of her patients at work.

The fate of her husband and the lack of re-percussions served to those responsible have made her fixated on accidents at work. In a ‘death book’ she collects news items about any accident occurring, and it is all she talks about when her daughter Fanny calls.

Then a video about Angela Davis, the legend from the civil rights movement, gets her at-tention. So much of what Davis is saying fit what Jeanette sees in the deaths of workers. Thanks to a Christmas gift from her daugh-ter, Jeanette can attend a convention in San Francisco where Davis is head speaker. There, she tries to find out more about the connec-tion between the civil rights movement and that of the working class, but her attempts are fruitless and she has to return to Sweden without getting any closer to the answer.

A month passes and all that happened dur-ing the trip seems strangely remote, unreal. Boris the dog has disappeared. As the snow arrives she finds footprints on the steps to her house, steps that lead to the shed. Some-one has been there, eaten and smoked there. And then there’s a knock on the door, and the boy steps into her life. When one door closes, a window opens.

Anneli JordahlAnneli Jordahl (b. 1960) is an author and literary critic. She has written several works of non-fiction, as well as critically praised novels.

Her latest novels are Augustenbad en som-mar/Augusten bad, One Summer (2011) andLåt inte den här stan plåga livet ur dig, Mona/Don’t Let This Town Ruin You (2014).

Som hundarna i Lafayette ParkLike the Dogs in Lafayette Parkby Anneli JordahlSeptember 2016, 267 pagesSenior Editor: Håkan Bravinger

Available material: Extensive synopsis in EnglishReview date: September 19, 2016

Anneli Jordahl

Swedish working class meets Black Power



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fiction

Press voices:“She is a volcano, invincible with her brute force and precision. /…/ The Love War of the Century is a mature debut, rhythmical and with a perfect pitch. So, Witt-Brattström can do this as well, write fiction that goes straight to your heart.” Tranås Tidning

“Seen as a literary interpretation of domina-tion techniques this book becomes a friend to take with you. I say indeed: Ingenious!”Arbetet

“to a large extent absolutely brilliant. /.../ a novel that many will recognize themselves in: An exploration of the purgatory of mar-riage where the flames pose threat of devour-ing both body and soul. And yet so many en-dure.” Helsingborgs Dagblad

“With her novel Witt-Brattström joins the women before her, who refused to sit in si-lence shamefully carrying their own sadness in their laps, but who instead brought it for-ward and demanded an audience.” Expressen

“It is time for women to make their way out of the closed rooms of destructive relation-ships. So follow Witt-Brattström’s example: Never shut up and be pretty. Don’t hide the bruises, neither the symbolic nor the literal ones. Let them speak.” Blekinge Läns Tidning

“Effectively written literary dialogue about the loss of a marriage, where none of the par-ties stands out unambiguously as a hero or as a villain.” Politiken (DK)

“The dialogue written as ordinary running prose would have been quite conventional, now the words are electric. Benefiting from the slowed down reading, they become pro-found, full of atmosphere. Sometimes, myste-riously enough, even beautiful.” Aftonbladet

“It’s at the same time remarkable and amaz-ing.” Upsala Nya Tidning

Fiction

Ebba Witt-BrattströmEbba Witt-Brattström is an award-winning author and scholar in comparative litera-ture. She is currently Professor of Nordic Literature at Helsinki University.

As a well-known feminist and debater in Scandinavia she has fronted several feminist movements and organizations. Ebba Witt-Brattström has written several books on literature and women’s libera-tion. The Love War of the Century is her literary debut.

The Love War of the CenturyA marital break-down in the mendacious par-adise of equality. Two voices: a woman and a man who have lived together half a life.

Through the dialogue you can hear the last, pounding heartbeats of their shared exist-ence. What was once great love has turned

into a drawn out struggle. It is brutal, quick-witted, naked, piteous, and so infinitely sad.

Århundradets kärlekskrig is a novel in para-graph format, influenced by Märta Tik-kanen’s classic novel Århundradets kärlekssa-ga/The Love Story of the Century from 1978.

Århundradets kärlekskrigThe Love War of the Centuryby Ebba Witt-BrattströmMarch 2016, 183 pagesSenior Editor: Eva GedinSample translation available

Rights sold to: C&K, Denmark • Nordisk Books, UKStage rights: Stockholm City Theatre (Spring 2017)

More than 23 000 copies sold

ebba witt-brattström

From the sample translation:

He said:I guess this morning we’reno worsefor wear.

It won’t get any better than this.In fact, we’re losinggoodwill on both sidesby a few percent a week.

I don’t knowwhat could reversethis process.Why don’t you askyour therapist.

She said:I asked.He wants me to givean ultimatum:we go to therapy

you go to therapyor else I leave you.Don’t kill the messenger.

He said:I will never go back there.He is a charlatan like all psychoanalysts.

• Into, Finland



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Fiction

Getting Things Done Maria lives with her husband Anders and their two children in a two bedroom-flat in a mid-sized northern Swedish town. It is the 1970s, and Maria has cut down on her working hours to attend a distance course in art history. A chance at something greater, something just for her.

At home the demands and musts, real and im-agined, press upon her. Anders wants a house and maybe another kid, but her coldness and absent-mindedness these days makes him hesitant. Fredrik is growing up quickly, dis-tancing himself, staying out with friends or on his room. And Siri, still just a child, but with eyes that see, that understand more than Maria would like. The home that needs the constant attention and care; and the job where the hours are never enough; and the studies that never get done… The glass and the bottle and the pills that make it all easier.

Rapidly, Maria’s insecurity and self-destruc-tive behavior become a downward spiral to-wards the inevitable nervous breakdown. She’s failing at life, and the thought of her failure makes her not even want to try any-more. But the family remains, calling her back to them.

Ta itu is a powerful portrayal of how women’s conditions and modern social patterns don’t always go together, and how difficult it can be to fulfil the roles that have been given.

In 2016, Norstedts republishes this modern life drama following the immense success of Kristina Sandberg’s Maj Trilogy and the in-satiable demand from readers and booksell-ers across the land for more from Sandberg’s pen. Maj has become a literary phenomenon of national importance, and Kristina Sand-berg is now one of the brightest shining stars of contemporary Swedish fiction.

Kristina SandbergKristina Sandberg (b. 1971) is a psychologist and author. She made her literary debut in 1997, and is generally regarded—by critics and readers alike—as one of the most important contemporary Swedish writers.

Sandberg has been awarded numerous prestigious scholarships and prizes, in-cluding the finest national literary award: The August Prize for Best Fiction in 2014 for Liv till varje pris/Life at Any Cost, the third instalment in her trilogy about houswife Maj.

The Maj Trilogy has sold more than 350 000 copies in Sweden to date.

Ta ituGetting Things Done by Kristina SandbergMarch 2016 (first published 2003), 260 pagesSenior Editor: Eva GedinSample folder in English available

kristina sandberg

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The brightest star of contemporary Swedish literature!





New! Gastro-historic

recepies from The Maj Trilogy

Fiction kristina sandberg

“One of the most sensitive psychological realists in contemporary Swedish fiction /.../ It is complex but not complicated, and it confirms Kristina Sandberg’s position as one of the most sensitive psychological re-alists in contemporary Swedish fiction.” Svenska Dagbladet

“Liv till varje pris has enormous energy and vitality. Sandberg elegantly utilizes—and twists and turns—some of the genre’s more overused tools to create something else, something new, and in addition, something uniquely personal. She has her own voice, a unique literary tone. It is even more notice-able and convincing in this new novel. The trilogy is not only one of the most arresting and intimate women’s portraits written in recent times.” Helsingborgs Dagblad

“This generation raised today’s people, and those who follow behind need to read Sand-berg if they want to understand why Maj’s home is still such a loaded political and feminist scene. And why Kristina Sand-berg must get the August Prize this fall.” Dagens Nyheter

“It is a marvelous read. /…/ I have already written that Kristina Sandberg has created, with her earlier books, a unique, marvelous housewife elegy. And it cannot be praised enough, for its amazing insights, its astute-ness and its understanding. Maj’s world – a dirge that quietly fades away in the third novel. Sandberg provides a unique female perspective of a 20th century that went by with furious changes.” Arbetarbladet

“A great novel, not only size-wise but also for the thorough treatment of women’s is-sues and the delightful linguistic plaits.” Tidningen Kulturen

“Kristina Sandberg’s trilogy about Maj is a series of books that should, both literarily and when it comes to the topic, get more at-tention than that other person… what’s his name again… Knausgård. Maj’s struggle is so ridiculously more interesting to me and my sisters. Sorry, Karl Ove.” Borås Tidning

“Kristina Sandberg’s final installation in the trilogy about the housewife Maj from Örnsköldsvik is as well written as the ear-lier books, as dense and suggestive. And the angst is so heavy that the lines almost give way.” Fokus

“Kristina Sandberg has written an impressive trilogy that lends its voice to a story about a marginalized majority. It is strong and in-sistent and moving. /.../ The dual narrative is particularly well suited to address questions about then and now. They are never over simplified, nor are they easily answered be-cause they are not simple questions. All the more important to keep them alive.” Svenska Dagbladet

“Deafeningly dramatic about the housewife /.../ In the same way that Kristina Sandberg makes the novel’s underlying anxiety reflect Maj’s inner trembling, the unravelling is congenial – after have moved in Maj’s psyche for most of the nearly five hundred pages, it’s with Tomas’ narrative perspective that the book is closed. Maj is left alone beyond our point of view. Peripheral, like the housewife, noticeable only when the work is not done properly.” Västerbottens-Kuriren

“Bringing the housewife’s story out of oblivious is a magnificent project, but it is even more magnificent that she allows it to remain a paradox. As a reader I admire and feel sorry for Maj in the same breath.” Tidningen Vi

The Maj Trilogy – a Literary PhenomenonIn 2010, Norstedts published the first instalment in Kristina Sandberg’s trilogy about housewife Maj – Att föda ett barn (Giving Birth). It was followed in succession by equally acclaimed Sörja för de sina (Care for One’s Own) in 2012, and Liv till varje pris (Life at Any Cost) in 2014 – for which she was awarded the finest national liter-ary award: The August Prize for Best Fiction. The Maj Trilogy has sold more than 350 000 copies in Sweden to date.

Translator B.J. Epstein: “Kristina Sandberg might be thought of as Sweden’s contemporary Virginia Woolf. The beautifully poetic language, the attention to women’s lives, the psycho-logical depth and perspicacity – all these aspects are reminiscent of Woolf, but here in an updated and spare Scandinavian style. The trilogy follows Maj as she moves through her life: first as a single working woman; then pregnant and with no choice but to marry a man she scarcely knows; and through to her years as a housewife with an alcoholic husband, two children, an array of in-laws from a decidedly different background and class form her own. Maj herself may not think her story remarkable, but Sandberg’s talent is to give voice to previously untold tales and to highlight the vitality of everyday details. Maj’s journey is fascinating for what is shows the reader about women’s roles and opportunities in mid-20th century Sweden, and it is moving in portrayal of Maj’s experiences, frustrations, and joys.”

Sample and synopsis folder in English availableRights sold to: Nieuw Amsterdam, the NetherlandsPrószynski Media, PolandModtryk, Denmark





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The Parable BookHe is thinking that the eulogy he had held to his Mother in the Congregation House perhaps should be revised. By the river’s shore a flock of dying friends are standing, they are pleading to him to explain how everything is connected, for instance this matter with Love.

The Boy—not the one who had died, but the one with the same name who had lived and had become the Author. And the woman in the Lars-son House; she, who had lain down with him on the knot-free pine floor. Should he write the truth?

And Father’s note book with the ripped-out pages, that had been burnt and was forever gone. And then suddenly is re-surfacing after all these years, like a crack in history opening up before him.

Should all this really be told in the eulogy? And be transformed into the love story he never thought he would be able to write?

Per Olov Enquist’s new novel Liknelse- boken continues, in some ways, the

story in his praised memoir nov-el Ett annat liv. It is about the

Mother and the Father, the Books and whether it is real-ly possible in the end to sum up all that really mattered. From all this a love story emerges, which takes its be-

ginning in a meeting between the 15-year-old boy and an older

woman on a knot-free pine floor in the Larsson House.

LiknelsebokenThe Parable Book

by Per Olov EnquistMarch 2013, 249 pagesSenior Editor: Eva GedinFull English translation available

Rights sold to: Hanser, DE • Actes Sud, FR • Gyldendal, NO • Rosinante, DK • Iperborea, IT • Sprotin, FO • Host, CZ • Ambo/Anthos, NL • MacLehose/Quercus, World Eng-lish • Planeta, ES • Magveto, HU • Casas Cartti, RO

Fiction

Per Olov EnquistPer Olov Enquist was born in 1934 in northern Sweden. He is one of the most celebrated authors in Scandinavia, and his novels have been translated into more than 40 languages. Enquist has also written screenplays for TV and film and sev-eral plays, and today he is one of the most performed Scandinavian playwrights.

Enquist is one of only two writers ever having received the prestigious August Prize for fiction twice; in 1999 with the novel Livläkarens besök/The Royal Physician’s Visit, and in 2008 with his memoir novel Ett annat liv/The Wandering Pine.

per olov enquist

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“Liknelseboken is filled with a rare power that makes the old shiny new, the commonplace profound and [Enquist’s] vivid recollections great literature.” Helsingborgs Dagblad

Nominated for the August Prize 2013

More than 70 000 copies sold!

PER OLOV ENQUISTpjAserna

“A great book, a powerful book, it rises, superior and self-aware, above the run-of-the-mill production of literary authors.” Die Zeit

“Love does exist, it is dangerous and easily turns ugly. But be that is it may, it is all we have even though its duration may be limited. That is P O Enquist’s most important purpose with this book, steeped with melancholy and sorrow, yet not without a signifi-cant tone of comfort.” Uppsala Nya Tidning

“The story turns the power of magic and takes off, leaves everything be-hind and turns its investigation into a revelation. It is then, as you will certainly appreciate, very great lit-erature and for such literature dif-ferent rules apply.” Norrbottens Kuriren

“Nedstörtad ängel is a wonderful, shocking and moving report. You have to read this novel again and again” Frankfurter Rundschau

“Many of the novels I like the most are short, intense and of mixed form. Like Nedstörtad ängel of P O Enquist, one of my absolute favorites.” —Jonas Hassen Khemiri

“A masterpiece within documentary fiction.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung

“Lewis resa is open and generous, humorous and powerful, warm and charming. It embraces and captivates the reader. It is impossi-ble to put aside. It is in fact totally enchanting.” Kvällsposten

“Without a doubt, Per Olov Enquist has, with his novel of enigmatic beauty, created his foremost literary novel so far.” Svenska Dagbladet

“A writer of rare metaphysi-cal sensibilities. Enquist more than rises to the challenge: perhaps only Primo Levi, in the last twenty years, has shown a similar grace under pressure.” Sunday Telegraph

“A masterly and exceptionally inciting novel.” Aftonbladet

“The Master about the Master" Upsala Nya Tidning

“One of the most important writers in modern Scandinavian literature.” Berlingske Tidende

“Per Olov Enquist, le maître des lettres suédoises.” Lire Magazine

“Enquist, chimiste del'amour” Le Monde des Livres

The Plays: Collected WorksUpcoming title March 2017!



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fictionFiction

Press voices: “Stina Stoor writes in the same spirit as the great writers of the same landscape. I think of Sara Lidman, of course, but also of Torgny Lindgren and Per Olov Enqvist. The dialec-tal tone permeat the stories. It is a language offering resistance, forcing the reader to do retakes, to immerse in the text and to let the laconic formulations effect deeply. /.../ We have probably witnessed a new literary star being born. Make a mental note of the name Stina Stoor.” Dalademokraten

“Stoor writes as if she is composing music, with full stops and phrases that makes a rhythm of its own. Reading becomes a bodily experience. /.../ Stina Stoor’s stories are not like anything else I’ve read, which is a liberating feeling. In her fiction human beings become strikingly visible with all that this involves.” Arbetarbladet

“a rather irresistible, sharp humour, which re-mains even in serious moments. /…/ Bli som folk is a debut that really makes me happy” Aftonbladet

“Stoor narrates with evident authority in a language strongly characterized by dialect, which sings and paints its way through the text. Her attention to detail as well as the af-fection for the characters shine through the stories and allow the collection to become a convincing whole, where none of the stories are overshadowed or feel the least irrelevant. I want more from the pen of Stina Stoor.”Svenska Dagbladet

“It would disappoint me, but above all surprise me, if this roaring success-debut does not re-sult in at least an August Prize nomination.” Västerbottens-Kuriren

Stina StoorStina Stoor (born in 1982) has roots in no less than three of our Nordic minorities, the indigenous Sami, the Swedish speak-ers on the Finnish coast and the Meänkieli speakers as well as roots from northern settlers.

She lives with her Sami husband and two small children in her great-great-grandfa-ther’s old house, tending to the inherited forest. Unlike most in her generation she has chosen to live and work in the sparsely populated area of northern Sweden.

Beasts and Other StoriesBli som folk consists of nine short stories, all set in the border districts of Västerbotten and Ångermanland, in northern Sweden. But also in the border area of present and past, and of childhood and adultness. Girls trying to become women, boys having to become men. And then there are the mysteries of nature.

Bli som folk is rich in detail as well as in sug-gestive images of a Västerbotten in change. Stina Stoor moves along paths already trod upon by great writers, but she brings us—in this unique debut—to places where we have never set foot before.

Bli som folkBeasts and Other Stories

by Stina StoorAugust 2015, 166 pagesSenior Editor: Håkan BravingerSample translation in English available

Rights sold to: Gyldendal, Norway

Awarded the Borås Tidning’s Debut Prize and the Katapult Debut Prize Shortlisted for the August Prize for Best Fiction 2015

Stina Stoor

From the sample translation:

The sun shines in all the squash glasses ma-king all the squash sparkle. Rubies, red cam-pion, rowan! Kind of like that. Like magic! And Party Mum carefully slices the cake so that Sandra’s bit comes out beautiful and very large, almost scandalous, and it stands up in the middle of a flowery plate. The other children get cream-clogged spoons on the tablecloth but Party Mum is so kind she doesn’t even say anything about it. /.../ On the way home when Sandra leans back in her seat she feels that crown on her

head and a slender elastic band under her chin. The crown is made of thick paper, gold-en on the outside and white inside. A kind of toy. She takes it off and leaves it there. Among the ice cream wrappers, pools cou-pons and wadding. She asks: ‘Can I drive?’ And Dad replies: ‘Later.’ Because she hardly ever gets to, out on the big road: ‘Later Sandra, when we’re more closer to home.’



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Fiction fiction

A Fortune ForetoldA prophecy is received by a beloved aunt, a pro phecy that the girl eagerly awaits to see ful-filled.

In an open-hearted and pregnant recol-lection, Agneta Pleijel writes her memoirs about a young girl who once was her.

The childhood is dominated by geographi-cal movements. The girl is engaged in read-ing –the books give words to the vagueness of existence – and she’s also busy thinking about the female sex, family and the stupen-dous diversity of people. Her dad, the math-ematician, and her mum, the musician, are very different from each other. They are in constant conflict, and she loves them both.

Slowly she realizes that she’s grown up in a lie. She must guard herself carefully. Protect herself and her two younger sisters and tread gently through the war zone that her par-ents’ marriage is increasingly turning into.

She believes in the miracle, the magic and the transformation.

The story takes place in the suburbs of Stock-holm, in the university town of Lund and in the USA. It is a tale both painful and humor-ous about the search for truth, morality, and a place of your own in the world. Agneta Pleijel writes about a time gone by, but the story about a girl growing into womanhood is ageless.

Press voices:“Agneta Pleijel’s marvelously lustrous auto-biography is one of those that will set the tone for others.” Expressen

“A classic coming-of-age-story, in short, but also captivating in an unconventional way. The language of Agneta Pleijel is car-nal and melancholic /…/ Pleijel has cre-ated a vibrant portrait of a family rooted in a specific zeitgeist, but at the same time

Spådomen. En flickas memoarerA Fortune Foretold – A Girl’s Memoirs

by Agneta PleijelApril 2015, 262 pagesSenior Editor: Eva GedinFull English translation availableMore than 22 000 copies sold

Rights sold to: Other Press, World English (publ June 2017) Karakter, Poland (publ Oct 2016)

living in a historical period of progress. Like many children of the fifties, Agneta Pleijel decides not to be like her parents. She wants to try to be a writer. How fortunate for us.” Dagens Nyheter

“Despite a distressing and dark plot it is as always very pleasant to find oneself in the language of Agneta Pleijel. Spådomen is a low-key, grand novel about a family who has lived in a messy lie, about a suffocat-ing mother-daughter relationship and about the immense issue: what is love?” Svenska Dagbladet

“Spådomen affects me strongly, both emo-tionally and intellectually. I very much like the author’s close reasoning and her ability to see herself from within, but also from an outside perspective. Agneta Pleijel is a lin-guistic master and an attentive psychologist. Nothing is superfluous, nothing is missing.” Göteborgs-Posten

“Agneta Pleijel’s psychologically observant portrayal of a child emerging adulthood, cap-tivates from the very first line.”Jönköpingsposten

“Yes, it’s painful, but depicted in a remark-ably beautiful way.” Ljusdals-Posten

“The style is explicit and firm, not a word too much, but still intense and touching. Spå-domen is absolutely one of Agneta Pleijel’s best books, you sense its total genuineness.” Hallandsposten

“The memoir is universal in its portrayal of the tumult of adolescence, specific in its rich evocations of a past era, and acutely, physi-cally personal. /…/ stylistically this is writing of the highest order.” Swedish Book Review

“Frank, captivating and wistful.” Aftonbladet

Agneta PleijelAgneta Pleijel was born in Stockholm in 1940. She has worked as a critic and cultur-al editor of various Swedish newspapers and magazines. Between 1987 and 1990 she was President of the Swedish PEN, and since 1988 she is a member of the academy Samfundet De nio. Between 1992 and 1996 Agneta Pleijel was Professor at the Insti-tute of Drama in Stockholm.

Apart from being one of Sweden’s for-most writers, she is also a playwright and a poet. Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages.

agneta pleijelFiction

Anticipated sequel coming in April 2017!



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The Terrorist’s Wife“The night was long, the children fell asleep, but I couldn’t. The merciless lights from the fluore- scent tubes, the heat and the hard concrete floors made it impossible. I thought of Said. Of his slim body. Of days, weeks and month and years of in-terrogations and torture. Of that it might come a day when the mujahidin will storm the pris-ons and open the cells and cast down the tyrant Bashar al-Assad.”

This is the true story about Anna Sundberg, a young Swedish woman from a well-off middle-class background who joins the in-ternational jihadist movement and remains with it for 16 years. We follow her story from 1994 until today; from secluded Salafist groups in Sweden, to a flat in central Berlin, to secret training camps of the mujahidin in Chechnya, and to cells in Bashar al-Assad’s labyrinthine prison systems. By her side is her second husband, a man by the US later declared a global terrorist.

Anna Sundberg’s witness is unique, also in-ternationally speaking. Few men – and al-most no women – have dared or been able to tell about the everyday life from within the jihadist movement. And the account she gives us, with the aid from proficient author Jesper Huor, is both intriguing and horrify-ing. This is the story of her way into and out of extremism, and its importance as a testa-ment to all of us cannot be overestimated.

From the sample translation:It was as if she had only just woken up out of a dream, and now that she was relating it, she was shaking her head at how unreal and implausible it all sounded. But sixteen years of her life had passed and you could see there was sadness over everything that might have been, the relationships she could have had, the conversations.

Älskade terrorist – 16 år med militanta islamisterThe Terrorist’s Wife. My 16 Years with Militant Islamistsby Anna Sundberg & Jesper Huor March 2016, 271 pages Senior Editor: Stefan Hildinge Sample translation available

Rights sold to: Varrak, Estonia • Czarna Owca, Poland


NOn-Fiction • New

Press voices:“A read both captivating and provocative. /.../ More important is Anna Sundberg’s sin-cerity in her book, which demands courage. A story from within a militant Islamist or-ganization is something rather sensational. ” Aftonbladet

“Sundberg has written a brutally honest and candid account from within the jihadist movement. It is in truth not a pretty story and I have a great admiration for Sundberg’s courage to see her own actions with clear and critical eyes. My wish is that Sundberg’s unique experience from the lion’s den will be put to use.” Dagens Nyheter

“tremendously exciting /.../ The book’s strength lies in Anna’s self-analytical abil-ity, her ruthless honesty and the fact that she steps out of the classical victim role” Göteborgs Posten

“The book is free from all kind of literary sophistication. The narrative is straightfor-ward and distinct. Unaffected, in its best sense. Her story is constantly fascinating /.../ This is an inside account of how the jihadists work, knowledge that unfortunately is vital in today’s society.” Vi Magazine

“An important testimony from one of the most secluded societies in the world” Smålandsposten

“Älskade terrorist is created with a strong hand and gives an exceptional in-depth in-sight into radicalization.” Svenska Dagbladet

“her account exerts a chilling fascination, due precisely to her clear-eyed recall of day-to-day life as circumscribed by Islamic fun-damentalism.” Swedish Book Review

Anna SundbergAnna Sundberg is a school teacher by trade and is currently working at the Teachers Union.

Jesper HuorJesper Huor is a journalist and author. He has previously written two books, Sista re-san till Phnom Penh/The Last Trip to Phnom Penh (2006) and I väntan på talibanerna/Waiting for the Talibans (2010).

anna sundberg & Jesper Huornon-Fiction



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Shadows We Carry It’s 1947. Stig Dagerman, the young Swedish author on everybody’s lips, is feverishly work-ing on a play, his third. Skuggan av Mart/Marty’s Shadow, as Stig will call it, will be his best-known play, and the most frequently staged both in Sweden and abroad.

The play is inspired of real people: the Vien-nese-Jewish writer Etta Federn and her sons Jean and Michel. Stig Dagerman and his wife has visited Etta in Paris just weeks before he sits down to write the play.

Some sixty years later, unknowingly and independently of each other, Lo Dagerman and Nancy Pick are pursuing research. Lo is in search of her father, the star writer who committed suicide when she was only three; Nancy is in search of her distant cousin Etta, the anarchist, feminist, journalist, force of nature, and role model; both are driven by

a need to understand the persons whose ab-sence in their lives bear such significance to their identities today.

The play, Skuggan av Mart, brings Lo Dager-man and Nancy Pick together on their quests. And the brutality of it almost tears them apart. Why did Stig paint such a cruel and garbled portrait of Etta and her family? Lo and Nancy’s pursuit of who Stig and Etta really were imbues the book, and pieces to the puzzle are fit together along the way.

Skuggorna vi bär is a personal book and wind-ing road back in time and into the minds of two extraordinary and fascinating people.

Skuggorna vi bär – Stig Dagerman möter Etta Federn i Paris 1947Shadows We Carry. Stig Dagerman and Etta Federn in Paris 1947by Lo Dagerman & Nancy PickSpring 2017, 260 pagesSenior Editor: Stefan HildingEnglish manuscript available soon

Stig Dagerman möter Etta Federn i Paris 1947

non-Fiction • Upcoming 2017

Lo DagermanLo Dagerman has lived and worked in USA for 30 years. As the daughter of Stig Dagerman and actress Anita Björk, Lo has devoted a significant part of her life to making Stig’s lega-cy better known in the world. She runs the US webpage dedi-cated to his works and has produced two short films together with her son, director Dan Levy Dagerman.

Nancy PickNancy Pick works as a writer, editor and translator. She has previously written The Rarest of the Rare, about the natural history treasures of Harvard University. Nancy lives with her family in western Massachusetts.

From the English manuscript:“She wants a typewriter. It is November 1945, not long after the end of the war, and she wants a typewriter sent to her in France. I think: perhaps she is a journalist. Later I will learn that the reports she plans to type are strange. Later I will learn that her books have been destroyed. Later I will come to obsess over her, identify with her, and invoke her to strengthen me against pain. But when I first encounter her, as I flip through family files in Chicago concerning relatives no one talks about, all I know is this: she wants a typewriter. Her name is Mrs. Marietta Federn, but she calls herself Etta. Etta—a Yiddish name, from the Hebrew for hidden. The file in the family office does not contain the request she has sent to Chicago. I have only the reply from Miss Hutchinson, my great-grandmother’s secretary, along with the

notes accompanying her thorough investiga-tion. Shipping a typewriter from Chicago to Paris in 1945 would be difficult and expen-sive—and besides, given the scarcity of metal after the war, there are no typewriters to be had. ‘I took up the question of a typewrit-er with Mrs. Pick,’ writes Miss Hutchinson, who, as secretary to a wealthy Jewish widow, finds herself running an informal charity in the wake of Hitler’s atrocities. ‘She feels that there are so many calls for help during these days that she can not advance the funds. Why do you not buy it on credit there in France, and pay the monthly installments you wish deducted.’ Which is exactly what Etta does. (Lat-er I will find not only a description of her typewriter, but even a photograph of it.)”—Nancy Pick

Lo dagerman & nancy pick



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Thriller • New

were certain key phrases she recognised. ‘It’s from the Quran. A summons to follow the path of the righteous.’ Stavfeldt clasped his hands behind his neck and leaned back in his chair. His uni-form shirt gaped over his chest. He fixed his gaze on a random spot on the ceiling. ‘That’s what I was afraid of. I’m famil-iar with the method from TV, of course. This is what usually happens in Syria and Iraq when they kidnap and murder people.’ Anette rewound the footage and turned up the volume. Once again the chant-ing could be heard from the man holding both the victim and the book. She assumed it was the Quran he was holding. She could make out some of what he was saying. ‘It’s also about the path of the right-eous. And the condemnation of apostates. All part of the standard rhetoric.’ /.../ He paused the film and turned to face Anette. During her time with the territori-

al police she had for a while worked closely with Stavfeldt. He was a meticulous and me-thodical colleague who rarely let his imagi-nation run away with him. /.../ ‘Of course, it could just be some immi-grant kids who’ve been watching too much CNN,’ he suggested. ‘Hmm,’ answered Anette. ‘We’re keep-ing tabs on a bunch of them. New Muslim converts, young lads choosing a radical reli-gious and political path.’ Stavfeldt had also read the report about radical Islamists in Sweden that Säpo had made public. Over two hundred people who in one way or another were tied to this small but excessively violent offshoot of Is-lam. He had also read about the young recent Muslim converts in the west who frequently chose to adopt the most radical path of all. ‘On the other hand,’ said Anette hesi-tantly, ‘This could be part of something much bigger.’

SleepwalkersAnette Jansson, former UN police, now Detec-tive Inspector at the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), is investigating a case of radicalized youngsters in a southern Stockholm suburb. At the same time intelligence from Germany indi-cate increased activities of terrorist groups with connections to Sweden.

Mohammed el Mehti is on his way to Stock-holm to build up a small cell of righteous soldiers, camouflaging it behind a legitimate import business.

Jamal Abu al-Khair, a nice but rebellious young man, is trying to find his path in life and seeks knowledge and strength from reli-gion. But are prayers enough when Muslims are persecuted and waged war upon by the Western world?

In his thriller debut, Håkan Eriksson inves-tigates the motives and beliefs of the three main characters, who all in their own way try

to do what they think is right in the world. It is an initiated and suspenseful depiction of how people driven by pure conviction work their schemes, and how the security police and the society fight acts of terror, trying to prevent the worst from happening and still, most of the time, finding themselves one step behind.

From the sample translation:Anette Jansson and Per Stavfeldt stared at the computer screen. The image had frozen on the image of the unmasked man’s head being jerked up by one of the men in the background. Stavfeldt looked expectantly at Anette. ‘Glad you phoned,’ she said. She pointed at the screen. Anette rec-ognised the writing on the banner in the background. She had a working knowledge of Arabic after taking a few in-house cours-es, but Arabic was a difficult language with a completely different alphabet. Even so there

Håkan ErikssonHåkan Eriksson is a journalist by trade, currently he is working as an expert on trade and industry politics for the Employer’s Organization for the Swedish Service Sector (Almega). He has written two non-fiction books prior to taking the step over to fiction. Sömngångare is his thriller debut, and the first book in a planned series.

SömngångareSleepwalkers by Håkan ErikssonAugust 2016, 418 pagesSenior Editor: Peter KarlssonSample translation and folder in English available

Rights sold to: Ksiazki, Poland

Thrilling debut about the fight against terror

AutorAbout



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Fiction fiction

English TitleGloria has accompanied her new boyfriend Adam on vacation to his family’s grand summer home Ekudden, situated in the idyllic archipel-ago north of Stockholm. In many ways they are each other’s opposites—a conscious freelance journalist and a business man—but they are also drawn to each other for exactly that reason.

Besides the opportunity to take the new re-lationship further, Gloria also has a known past on the island. Her mother was once part of a women’s collective there, when Gloria was in her young teens, not far away from where the slightly older Adam lived with his family during the summers. Gloria is both nervous and excited to revisit a place she hasn’t seen in over 20 years.

The first days on the island are amazingly beautiful, summery and warm, but also a bit strained. Adam’s older brother Karl and his wife Maria have completely different views on gender roles and equality than Gloria, and

they enjoy provoking her. A dog, Molly, be-comes an unexpected ally when Gloria wants to escape the tensions for a while.

Memories and events that she hasn’t thought about in a long while start to come back. And at nights, Jimmy, a teenager who drove him-self to death on a moped all those years ago, haunts her dreams. The deserted collective villa calls to her with its hollow windows, and one day she and the dog stumble on a maca-bre find: the body of a dead woman, with a veil covering her face and a fading bouquet of flowers in her hands.

The discovery of the body marks the start of the storm to come. And soon Gloria is faced with the hardest of choices – to protect the prospect of happiness and family, or to final-ly draw out the secrets of the past that have shadowed her life. Rebecka Edgren Aldén’s new novel is a rock-solid thriller that will fulfil all expectations.

TitelEnglish Title TBAby Rebecka Edgren Aldén Summer 2017Senior Editor: Peter Karlsson

Option publishers: Animus, Hungary • Modtryk, Denmark • De Bezige Bij, the Netherlands • Denoël, France • Btb, Germany

Fiction

Rebecka Edgren AldénRebecka Edgren Aldén is a journalist and author. Through her journalistic career, she has worked foremost with magazines, and was up until recently senior editor of Scandinavia’s largest women’s magazine, Damernas Värld. She lives with her family in Nacka outside Stockholm.

Her debut novel, the suspenseful page-turner Den åttonde dödssynden/The Eighth Deadly Sin was published by Norstedts in 2015 and immediately found its fans among readers and book bloggers. It has so far sold 7 000 copies.

Currently she works as Concept Manager for Bonnier Magazines, covering all titles, while writing on her next novel planned for 2017.

Suspense • UPCOMING title 2017 Rebecka edgren aldénRebecka edgren aldén

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REBECKA EDGREN ALDÉN

NEW TITLE

2017



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fictionFiction

“Rebecka Edgren Aldén’s debut thriller Den åttonde dödssynden, depicts a hard-working writer on the verge of nervous breakdown, and her a bit too intrusive neighbor. The style is simple yet deadly effective and the end provides an exceptionally genuine surprise.” Aftonbladet

“You should read this book if you liked The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. These two psychological thrillers have much in common. Who, if anyone, can you really trust?” Litteratursiden.dk

“Rebecka Edgren Aldén has written a really nice suspense novel, up-to-date and with a good plot. I read this little gem in one sitting last week and finished genuinely pleased.” Bokhora

“Den åttonde dödssynden is a creepy, psychological suspense novel, putting its finger on today’s exaggerated demand for success stories and self-help books and the downside of this demand; the fact that we seldom dare to show our true colours. /.../ This is interesting. Den åttonde dödssynden is interesting.” Enligt O

“Top grades to this debut novel, absolutely the most thrilling book this year. Read it, but during daytime. 5+ (out of 5)” Mia’s bokhörna

“Quite impossible to stop reading. This is the author’s debut and one must say that this is nothing but a success. I strongly recommend

this book to everyone who likes suspense. I, myself look forward to many more novels by this author. 5 out of 5” Ylva Kort och Gott

“The book unfolds into a real page-turner that is extremely hard to put down. Perhaps one of this season’s hottest debuts in the genre of suspense.” Johannas Deckarhörna

“a psychological thriller that fully lives up to its genre, Domestic Noir. The story is truly vivid and well-written, I was drawn into its universe from the start, and could actually just lean back and ‘enjoy the ride’. /…/ A genuinely strong reading experience.” Bognorden ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“The plot is brilliant, the story perfectly told and the protago-nists’ roles are so well written that this book shines in a class of its own!” Krimifan.dk ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“A truly exciting psychological thriller with a surprising end.” Findalskrimiside.dk ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The Eighth Deadly Sin Nora is a successful columnist, author and lec-turer, the kind that instil in her readers and au-dience that everyone can achieve happiness and success if they just make an effort.

That is exactly what Nora did herself after the accident ten years ago, when she fell in a stairwell from the seventh floor and nearly lost her life, an incident she only vaguely re-members.

Now she lives with her husband Frank and their two children in a stately villa in a well-off residential street. Once a year Nora or-ganizes a grand party for all their neighbours, where she can really excel as the centre of attention.

But one day Klara moves in across the street and the idyllic picture is disrupted. And as Nora starts to write on her next future best-seller (on the theme of the deadly sins) she is met by a series of problems and difficulties,

which she is not at all accustomed to. Slowly but surely fragments of Nora’s past is com-ing back to her and suspicions start to haunt her – maybe what happened ten years ago wasn’t an accident.

Den åttonde dödssynden is a suspense novel revolving around false fronts, pretence and the things we want to hide from others. Re-becka Edgren Aldén has written a clever and contemporary psychological thriller about human failures, horrific secrets and the be-trayal of trust.

Press voices and blog reviews:“A psychological thriller about lies, control, and the ability to choose your own life. /.../ Well written /.../ with an unexpected twist at the end which opens for a sequel. And which one is ‘the eighth deadly sin’? Yes, you will find this out too.” Borås Tidning

Den åttonde dödssyndenThe Eighth Deadly Sin

by Rebecka Edgren Aldén August 2015, 320 pagesSenior Editor: Peter KarlssonSample translation available

Rights sold to: Animus, Hungary • Modtryk, Denmark • De Bezige Bij, the Netherlands • Denoël, France (publ May 2017) • Btb, Germany (publ 2017)

Suspense Rebecka edgren aldénRebecka edgren aldén



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Suspense

The First LieIt is the summer of 1997, in Visby on Gotland. 16-year-old Josefin wakes in great pain all over, she’s naked and confused. Last night, she and her best friend Camilla had gone to party with three older guys from school. She had flirted, they had had fun, but then the images turn dim.

Thailand 2010. Oskar, a successful athlete, is vacationing with his wife and two children. On the surface idyllic, but Oskar is more interested in bars and nightlife than in his family.

After one particularly wet evening, Oskar wakes up in a dirty shed, disoriented and in need of a doctor. He had left with a woman from the bar for a ‘little fun’, but their sexual encounter had gotten out of hand and then someone had assaulted him. The next day, when he cannot find his passport, he realizes that he has to find the woman.

At the same time in Stockholm, Jonas re-ceives an email containing a photo of a na-ked young woman. For the last thirteen years he has done all he could to forget that night in Visby, but this photo could ruin his life. Reluctantly, but out of necessity, he contacts his two former friends. Again they have to stick together in order to save themselves. Their first lie necessitates many new ones in order to conceal their secrets.

Sara Larsson debuts with Den första lögnen, a suspenseful novel revolving around an ever- current and uncomfortable topic. It con-cerns our views on sexuality, the word ‘no’ and the lack of legal protection for women. It concerns our morals and sense of justice, our expectations and prejudices, as well as our perception of crime and punishment.

Den första lögnen The First Lie by Sara LarssonJanuary 2015, 395 pagesSenior Editor: Susanna RomanusAvailable material: Sample translation and synopsis in English, full German translation

Rights sold to: Bastei Lübbe, Germany • Czarna Owca, Poland Film rights: Fundament Film

sara larsson

Press voices:“Sara Larsson’s debut novel is skilfully nar-rated, it’s actually entertaining, even though it is so unpleasantly realistic. She writes an exact prose, without sparing you the details, but she never lets the emotions get out of control. On the contrary, she allows all three perpetrators their own story, their own de-fense.” Dagens Nyheter

“One page read, and I’m stuck. It’s too early in the year to talk about this year’s best crime novel, but Sara Larsson’s book could well as-pire to the title.” Blekinge Läns Tidning

“Den första lögnen does not contain much vi-olence and very few police officers. Instead, the suspense is on a psychological level. Who is chasing the three men and with what pur-pose? At the same time the book deals with a serious social problem. Read it!”Nya Kristinehamns-Posten

“a writer you gladly keep reading /…/ she writes well /.../ it is an ambitious thriller.” Gomorron Sverige, Swedish Television

“A furious reckoning with a misogynistic so-ciety /.../ Sara Larsson composes her story as a thriller where the excitement does not lie in who the perpetrators are, but what has be-come of them. /…/ a filmic dense novel /.../ Larsson has an obvious talent for the rough, socially commenting crime novel. /.../ Quite a few of Sweden’s established crime writers may tremble.” Arbetarbladet

“The book is written with suspense and a flowing hand making it both easy to read and well worth reading /…/ Sara Larsson manag-es to both move and disturb the reader, and yet succeeds in creating a tension that makes the book difficult to put aside.” Vestmanlands Läns Tidning

Sara LarssonSara Larsson was born in 1973, and lives in Stockholm. She is a qualified civil en-gineer but has also studied journalism and law. Today she works as a consultant in the public sector.

Den första lögnen is her debut novel.


International Press Voices:“Lagercrantz pulls it off, and with a great deal of style. / Elegantly paced, slickly executed, and properly thrilling. / A welcome treat.” The Guardian (UK)

“Rest easy, Lisbeth Salander fans — our punk hacker heroine is in good hands. /A twisty, bloody thrill ride . /An instant page-turner.” USA Today, 4 out of 4 stars (USA)

“I kept forgetting for several pages at a time that I wasn’t reading genuine Larsson. / Lagercrantz has caught her [Salander] superbly, and expertly spun the sort of melodramatic yarn in which she can thrive.” The Telegraph (UK)

“A thrillingly layered book every bit as addictive as the originals.” O, The Oprah Magazine (USA)

“Passion and fire, check: there are plenty of both here. / Fast-moving, credible, and intel-ligently told. Larsson fans won’t be disap-pointed.” Kirkus Reviews (USA)

“Lagercrantz stays true to Larsson’s vision / No doubt about it, Lagercrantz has done a skillful job.” Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

“Salander and Blomkvist are just as com-pelling as ever. / Fans of Stieg Larsson’s captivating odd couple of modern detec-tive fiction will not be disappointed.” The New York Times (USA)

“Los fans se sentirán en buenas manos. [The fans will feel that they are in good hands]” La Vanguardia (Spain)

“An excellent thriller / elegantly construct-ed.” Stern (Germany)

“Passé la défiance, il faut bien se rendre à l’évidence, Lagercrantz a réussi son pari : se glisser dans l’univers de Stieg Larsson (onze ans après sa mort) sans pour autant le pasticher. Les fans de la saga vont adorer.” Le Figaro magazine (France)

“David Lagarcrantz assure haut la plume la relève de Stieg Larsson.” Telerama (France)

“Wat Ons Niet Zal Doden is exciting in a fine way, quite in the spirit of Larsson, yet Lager-crantz has subtly interweaven his own signa-ture. / Fans can breathe a sigh of relief. With Wat ons niet zal doden Larsson is not disre-garded.” NU.nl (The Netherlands) norstedts agency

www.norstedtsagency.se

The Millennium Series ContinuesDavid Lagercrantz Det som inte dödar oss/The Girl in the Spider’s Web • The anticipated return of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist• Rights sold to 45 publishers (in 47 languages) • 2015 published simultaneously in 26 countries• 4,7 Million copies sold worldwide

Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series:• More than 82 Million copies sold• 51 publishers worldwide• Film adaptations made by Yellow Bird and Columbia Pictures

The Future . . . The adventure continues: • Millennium 5 – tentative publication 2017• Millennium 6 – tentative publication 2019

selection from our backlist

Commercial fiction & crimeSally Andrew Tannie Maria’s Recipe for Love and Murder (2016) Blake Friedmann Ag.Maeve Binchy A few of the girls (2017) Ulf Töregård AgencyPierce Brown Morning Star (2016) Sane/Liza Dawson Ass.Audrey Carlan Calendar Girl Series (2016-2017) Bookcase Literary Agency/Nordin AgencyE.O. Chirovici The Book of Mirrors (2017) Peters Fraser + DunlopDaniel Cole Rag Doll (2017) Conville & WalshMichael Connelly The Wrong Side of Goodbye (2017) Little, Brown/Ulf Töregård AgencyJustin Cronin City of Mirrors (2016) Trident/Ulf Töregård AgencyJean-Paul Didierlaurent Le reste de leurvie (2017) Two Seas AgencyKate Eberlen Miss You (2017) ILALiz Fenwick A Cornish House (2017) Blake Friedmann AgencyL.S. Hilton Maestra Trilogy (2016-2018) Bonnier Publishing GroupArnaldur Indriðason Þýska húsið (2017) Petsamo (2018) Skuggasund (2019) ForlagiðWinnie M Li Dark Chapter (2018) Pontas AgencyMinna Lindgren Death at Sunset Grave (2018) Elina Ahlbäck Literary AgencyHollie Overton Baby Doll (2017) WME/Ulf Töregård AgencyGin Philips Beautiful Things (2018) Ulf Töregård AgencyLone Theils Pigerne Fra Englandsbaaden (2016) Nordin Agency

Narrative non-fictionDouglas Brinkley The Unraveled Tales of Bob Dylan (2015) Licht & Burr Ta-NeHisi Coates Between the World and me (2016) Randhom House/Licht & BurrElvis Costello Unfaithfull Music and Disappearing Ink (2016) Penguin Group/Ulf TöregårdAri Folman (ed.) Anne Frank: The Graphic Diary (2018) LiepmanPaul Kalanithi When Breath Becomes Air (2016) WME/Ulf Töregård AgencyScott Kelly Endurance (2017) Elyse Cheney/ILANora Krug Heimat A German’s Journey (2016) Elyse Cheney Lit.Ass./ILAHaruki Murakami Shokugyo toshite no Shosetsuka (2017) ICM/Curtis BrownEmma Reyes Memoria por correspondencia (2017) Casanovas & LynchSimon Sebag Montefiore Romanov (2016) Capel and Land Ltd.Barbara Streisand Memoir (2017) Viking/Ulf Töregård AgencyPeter Wohlleben Das geheime Leben der Bäume (2016) Random House GermanyJames Wood How Fiction Works (2017) Wylie Agency

Acquisitions editorsEvA gEdIn (Publisher) [email protected] • susAnnA roMAnus (Publishing Director) [email protected] • håkAn brAvIngEr [email protected] • stEfAn hILdIng [email protected] • hEnrIk LIndvALL [email protected] • gunILLA sondELL [email protected]

Norstedts ACQUISITIONS 2016–2017

Literary fictionIsabel Allende El amante japonés (2016) Agencia Literaria Carmen BalcellsMargaret Atwood Stone Mattress (2016) Curtis BrownAlex Capus Das Laben ist Gut (2018) CLA/HanserPhillipe Claudel L’arbre du pays Toraja (2018) Editions StockMarie Darrieussecq Être ici est une splendeur (2018) Wandel Cruse Literary AgencyMariana Enriquez Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego (2017) Casanovas & LynchGaël Faye Petis pays (2018) GrassetElena Ferrante L’amica geniale, Storia della nuovo cognomo, Storia di chi fugge e di chi resta

(2016–2017) Clementina Liuzzi AgenziaJonathan Safran Foer Here I am (2017) Aragi InC/Marsh AgencyAlmudena Grandes Las tres bodas de Manolita (2016) TusquetsGarth Greenwell What Belongs to You (2018) ICM/Curtis BrownYaa Gyasi Homegoing (2017) WME/Ulf Töregård AgencyRoy Jacobsen Hvitt hav (2016) Cappelen Damm AgencyTommi Kinnunen Lopotti (2017) WsoYKarl Ove Knausgård Om Høsten, Om Vinteren, Om Våren, Om Sommeren (2016–2017) WylieLászló Krasznahorkai Seiobo (2017) Laurence Laluyaux/Rogers, Coleridge & White Laura Lindstedt Oneiron (2017) Elina Ahlbäck Literary AgencyOrhan Pamuk The Red-Haired Woman (2017) Wylie Agency Dorit Rabinyan Borderlife (2018) Deborah Harris AgencyLutz Seiler Kruso (2016) Leonhardt & Høier/SuhrkampPajtim Statovci Kissani Jugoslavia (2016) Salomonsson AgencyLars Petter Sveen Guds barn (2018) Aschehoug AgencyMario Vargas Llosa Cinco Esquinas (2017) Agencia Literaria Carmen Balcells

Norstedts Modern Classic SeriesRobert Graves I, Claudius (2017) United AgentsCarson McCullers The Ballad of the Sad Café (2017) Peters Fraser + DunlopPatrick Modiano Villa Triste (2017) GallimardSigrid Undset Kristin Lavransdotter (2016) Aschehoug Agency

Selected authors published by Norstedts sIMonE dE bEAuvoIr • orhAn PAMuk • MArgArEt AtWood • IngMAr bErgMAn • MArIo vArgAs LLosA • LászLó krAsznAhorkAI • E.L. jAMEs j.r.r. toLkIEn • stIEg LArsson • kArL ovE knAusgård • jEffrEY EugEnIdEs jung ChAng • AdAM zAgAjEWskI • IMrE kErtész • sIMon sEbAg MontEfIorI hArukI MurAkAMI • sIrI hustvEdt • jAMEs Wood • stEvEn hAWkIng dAvId LAgErCrAntz • ELIzAbEth gEorgE • j.M.g. LE CLèzIo PEr oLov EnquIst • PAtrICk ModIAno • PhILIPP MEYEr • rIChArd YAtEs • CoLM tóIbín • jonAthAn sAfrAn foEr • stIg dAgErMAn • jEnnIfEr EAgAn

Norstedts ACQUISITIONS 2016–2017

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