Kathy Hamilton It’s time for more literary tourism with the best books set in Sweden. I’m fascinated by Scandinavia. And after visiting Sweden for the first time in the summer it felt right to delve into their literature and pull out a few must-reads for you.
For most of us, Swedish literature is best known for dark and unsettling crime fiction. Nordic or Scandi Noir, as it has become known, dominates the scene. But as I hope you’ll see, there’s so much more to Swedish literature than this. It’s wide and deep and encompasses all genres. Which I’ve tried to show here. I mean, a country that’s regularly voted to be the happiest in the world can’t be fuelled on gritty noir alone! Don’t worry though, if you’re a fan of Nordic Noir, there’s still plenty here for you in this list of best books set in Sweden! Let’s get started, shall we?
Britt Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
For as long as anyone can remember, Britt-Marie has been an acquired taste. But behind the passive-aggressive, socially awkward, absurdly pedantic busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams and a warmer heart than anyone around her realizes. So when Britt-Marie finds herself unemployed, separated from her husband of 20 years, left to fend for herself in the miserable provincial backwater that is Borg and somehow tasked with running the local football team, she is a little unprepared. But she will learn that life may have more to offer her that she’s ever realised, including love.I’ve started my list of best books set in Sweden with Britt Marie Was here because it was a standout read of 2018 for me personally. This book perfectly encapsulates what it’s like to face a huge change when you least expect it. Britt Marie has lived a life dedicated to making other people comfortable. She doesn’t have dreams of her own. Except if you count making sure her house is tidy and presentable for her undeserving husband. So, despite her prickly nature, you find yourself rooting for her. I loved that this story took us into the heart of a working-class community with a host of characters that aren’t angelically good, but good nonetheless. If you feel the need of a little “up-lit” in your life this one is perfect for you.
What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde
Tehran, 1978: Nahid and Masood, both eighteen, are young lovers and young revolutionaries, determined to overthrow the Shah’s regime and help to bring about democracy. Then one night, Nahid allows her younger sister to come along to a huge demonstration. Violence breaks out. Nahid lets go of her sister’s hand. Everything changes. Thirty years later, Nahid lies in a hospital bed replaying her life, raging at her carers, at her recent cancer diagnosis, and at her exile among people who while purporting to understand know nothing of what she has been through. Hands up if you’re familiar with the Iranian Revolution? Okay, a few hands in the back. Honestly, beyond watching Argo I had little to no clue about what happened. So I was immediately intrigued to read the description of What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde. I learned a lot about it, but this book is more than a reflection on the Iranian Revolution. It’s a ferocious read about the choices we make and our will to survive against all odds. Despite its slim size (it’s easily the shortest book on this list!) What We Owe manages to be a startling meditation on death, national identity, and motherhood.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle knows it was murder – and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet’s disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they will go to protect themselves.Could we honestly have a list of best books set in Sweden without mentioning The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson? This book is probably one of the most famous set there and with good reason. If you’re in the mood for a fast-paced Scandinavian thriller, and you haven’t already read this book then now is the time! It’s deftly woven plot will grip you almost from the first pages and never let go until you’re finished. The best bit? Once you’re done you can move onto the next in the series…that’s right it’s a trilogy!
The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Sitting quietly in his room in an old people’s home, Allan Karlsson is waiting for a party he doesn’t want to begin. His one-hundredth birthday party to be precise. The Mayor will be there. The press will be there. But, as it turns out, Allan will not . . . Escaping (in his slippers) through his bedroom window, into the flowerbed, Allan makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, Allan’s earlier life reveals itself. A life in which – remarkably – he played a key role behind the scenes in some of the momentous events of the twentieth century.Perhaps we could call this book, the antidote to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Uplifting, funny and heart-warming. The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson shows the softer side of Swedish literature. The plot is Completely impossible but almost plausible – and therein lies its charm. Filled with eccentric characters and darkly comic twists. This book is like a potted history of the 20th Century. Read this one curled up in your favourite chair with a steaming mug of tea at your side.
Popular music from Vittula by Mikael Niemi
A fantastical story of a young boy’s unordinary existence. Peopled by a visiting African priest, a witch in the heart of the forest, cousins from Missouri, an old Nazi, a beautiful girl with a black Volvo, and more. The story unfolds in sweltering wood saunas, amidst chain thrashings and gang warfare. Learning to play the guitar in the garage, over a traditional wedding meal, on the way to China, during drinking competitions, while learning secret languages, playing ice hockey surrounded by snow drifts, outsmarting mice, discovering girls, staging a first rock concert, peeing in the snow, skiing under a sparkling midnight sky.Popular Music from Vittula by Mikael Niemi tells a story of a rural Sweden. At once foreign and familiar. As a magical childhood slowly fades with the seasons into adult reality. Lapland might be most famous for Santa Claus, but as this novel shows, there’s so much more to it. Matti, the protagonist, is a regular teen in 60s Pajala up in the extreme north of Sweden, where they think of themselves as Finns and speak Finnish by preference. This book has it all, humanity, humour, high emotional stakes, great use of language, magic, and morals. A lovely coming of age novel in Rural Sweden.
Gösta Berlings Saga by Selma Lagerlöf
A defrocked minister, Gösta Berling finds a home at Ekeby, an ironworks estate that also houses an assortment of eccentric veterans of the Napoleonic Wars. His defiant and poetic spirit proves magnetic to a string of women, who fall under his spell in this historical epic set against the backdrop of the magnificent wintry beauty of rural Sweden.It’s time for a classic I think. Did you know that Selma Lagerlöf was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature? And Gosta Berlings Saga, her sweeping historical epic is her best work. Which makes it a perfect addition to this list of best books set in Sweden. The novel, set in the 1820s centres on the defrocked minister, Gosta Berling, who watches his vices destroy his career. The novel has a Faustian theme revolving around a possible deal with the Devil. It also deals with social issues such as poverty and depression, as well as mixing in elements of myths and humorous love stories.
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
It is autumn 1981 when the inconceivable comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood. The murder rumoured to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last—revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day. But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door—a girl who has never seen a Rubik’s Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night.You’ve probably heard of this book by way of its famous film adaptions. But, if you’re a fan of horror, do yourself a favour and read the book! It’s a brilliant vampire novel at heart, but more than that. It’s also a powerful and insightful look into the insidious nature of isolation, bullying and identity. Steeped in the existential dread that seems to pervade so much of Scandinavian literature this book will, literally, chill you to the bone. If you don’t fancy sleeping for a few days, this is the perfect book for you!
Hanna’s Daughters by Marianne Fredriksson
Anna has returned from visiting her mother. Restless and unable to sleep, she wanders through her parents’ house, revisiting the scenes of her childhood. In a cupboard drawer, folded and pushed away from sight, she finds a sepia photograph of her grandmother, Hanna, whom she remembers as old and forbidding. A silent stranger enveloped in a huge pleated black dress. Now, looking at the features Anna recognises as her own. She realises she is looking at a different woman from the one of her memory. Set against the majestic isolation of the Scandinavian lakes and mountains, this is more than a story of three Swedish women. It is a moving testament of a time forgotten and an epic romance in every sense of the word. Hanna’s Daughters by Marianne Frediksson is next on our list of best novels set in Sweden. And what a fantastic addition it is. I am a fan of female-driven plots and Hanna’s Daughters is exactly that. It presents a broad and engaging view of one hundred years of Swedish history told through the eyes of three generations of Swedish women. Marianne Fredriksson delivers an emotional, resonant family saga chronicling the lives of a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter across a century of love, loss, and sacrifice. It is unsentimental yet poignant. And, like What We Owe, offers a depiction of the complexities of family love and the mother-daughter relationship.
Doctor Glas by Hjalmar Soderberg
Lonely and introspective, Doctor Glas has long felt an instinctive hostility toward the odious local minister. So when the minister’s beautiful wife complains of her husband’s oppressive sexual attentions, Doctor Glas finds himself contemplating murder. A masterpiece of enduring power, Doctor Glas confronts a chilling moral quandary with gripping intensity.When this brooding novel was first published in 1905 it was met with immediate controversy. It has since taken its place as a masterpiece of Swedish literature. Although it’s more than 100 years old this novel feels fresh. It touches on issues that are still divisive today, abortion, assisted suicide (which he envisions as a human right in the future), sexuality, morality and religion. This is a strange and complicated little book. The kind that you find yourself thinking about long after you finish it. And for that reason, it earns itself a place amongst the best books set in Sweden.
Autumn by Karl Ove Knausgaard
28 August. Now, as I write this, you know nothing about anything, about what awaits you, the kind of world you will be born into. And I know nothing about you…I want to show you our world as it is now: the door, the floor, the water tap and the sink, the garden chair close to the wall beneath the kitchen window, the sun, the water, the trees. You will come to see it in your own way, you will experience things for yourself and live a life of your own, so of course, it is primarily for my own sake that I am doing this: showing you the world, little one, makes my life worth living.You thought I wasn’t going to mention Karl Ove Knausgaard didn’t you? But this is a list of the best books set in Sweden and so it’s practically mandatory! I picked Autumn by Karl Ove Knausgaard because he describes with acute sensitivity daily life with his wife and children in rural Sweden. Drawing upon memories of his own childhood. He delivers a tender perspective on the precious and unique bond between parent and child. In this list, we’ve had two books which closely meditate on the relationship between mother and daughter. But what drew me to this book was the idea of exploring the role of a father. If you find Karl Ove Knausgaard’s behemoth “My Struggle” to be off-putting, try this meditative book instead. I think it’s a far better introduction to his writing.
That Wraps up my Best Books Set in Sweden
I hope you’ll agree we’ve covered a vast array of genres in this list of best books set in Sweden? Still, are any of your favourite Swedish books missing? Let me know in the comments, I’m always eager for more recommendations.
