Bonnier Rights Fiction & narrative Non-Fiction Spring 2024

RightsGuide

Spring2024

Narrative&Non-NarrativeFiction

Carl-Johan Vallgren

Your Time Will Come A Novel About a Crime

The literary comeback by one of Sweden’s paramount novelists and depictors of inhumane evil and the beautiful prevalence of life.

Falkenberg, 1993. It all begins when a mental patient finds the dead body of a young woman in a river. The cause of death seems to be strangulation, but there are also signs of severe starvation.

Local police investigator Björling is put on the case, but the evidence is scarce as the forest is hiding every trace of the killer, and no one has reported the victim missing. Björling receives backup from a rising star at the National Police Department, the young and talented investigator Johanna. She is originally also from Falkenberg but has done everything to forget her past.

Björling and Johanna take on the investigation with a distanced, mutual respect. They both have things they are eager to hide. In Björling’s case, it is the fact that after recently becoming a widower, he suspects he might be losing his mind because he keeps seeing the spirit of his wife when he least expects it.

Björling’s seventeen-year-old daughter Malin is also battling sorrow since her mother’s passing. When her new boyfriend invites her to go camping at a secluded location deep in the forest, she lies to Björling about where she is going.

When the night falls in the dense forest, and Mattias weird brother John unexpectedly has joined them, Malin is starting to feel more and more uneasy. Before the night is over, Malin will have tried in vain to escape a predator who knows the forest like the back of his hand.

By masterfully using the elements of a great thriller and with great pathos drilling deep into the human soul through his full-bodied characters, Carl-Johan Vallgren raises a series of existential questions about man and nature, life and death, darkness and light.

Your Time Will Come is the long-awaited literary comeback by one of Sweden’s most praised and respected authors.

Rights sold

Danish: Gutkind

Finnish: Otava

Norwegian: Gyldendal

Publication

Albert Bonniers Förlag

April 2024

350 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

Full English Translation

Synopsis

Author letter

Film & TV Rights Rights Available

Carl-Johan Vallgren (b. 1964) grew up in Falkenberg but now lives in Stockholm and writes full time. He debuted in 1987 and had his international breakthrough in 2002 with The Horrific Sufferings Of the Mind-Reading Monster Hercules Barefoot, for which he received the August Prize. Your Time Will Come is his first novel since 2015.

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Jan Gradvall

Melancholy Undercover

The

Book About ABBA

A new music biography based on openhearted interviews with all four members of ABBA over the past decade. Unusual by form with a personal narrative, this book widens our view on the world’s most famous and private bands.

“Even the happiest songs have a melancholic base. We made melancholy undercover.” – Benny Andersson

ABBA remains one of the world’s most famous and loved bands of all time. It doesn’t matter that 41 years have passed since their infamous breakup. Somewhere in the world, there is always an ABBA song playing.

With unique access to the four secretive members of ABBA for the past decade, Jan Gradvall has written an unusual biography about the band. Based on openhearted interviews with all members, he shares new light on some of the most memorable moments for the band and lets us know what happened off-stage.

With ABBA’s music as focal point, Jan Gradvall also widens the narrative of ABBA by sharing what influenced their music and success, as well as showing how ABBA in turn, influenced and reshaped the entire universe of music.

ABBA’s impact cannot be overestimated. They have influenced musicians in all genres since their international breakthrough in 1974 with ‘Waterloo’. What shaped the lives of the members of ABBA and influenced some of the most loved songs in the world? How did the unlikely reunion, “ABBA Voyage”, come about? What impact has ABBA had throughout modern history, across the world?

Inspired by Craig Brown’s biography about The Beatles, One Two Three Four, Jan Gradvall places ABBA at the centre of music history and through him we are allowed closer than ever before with one of the world’s most private bands.

‘We get tender portraits of the band members' personalities, as the author experiences them. I am digging it.’

Göteborgs-Posten

Rights sold

Croatian: V.B.Z

Danish: Gutkind

Dutch: Unieboek Het Spectrum

English (UK): Faber

Estonian: Ajakirjad

Finnish: Otava

Italian: Rizzoli

Norwegian: Aschehoug

Polish: Foksal

Spanish: Planeta

Publication

Albert Bonnier Förlag

October 2023

370 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

Full English Translation (tk)

Chapter Outline

Author Letter

Jan Gradvall (b.1963) is one of Sweden’s leading journalists and experts on music and pop culture. He has received several journalistic awards during the course of his career, as well as being chairman of the jury for the Nordic Music Prize. The first record he ever bought as a kid was an album by ABBA.

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Maria Adolfsson Silent As The Grave

Book 7 in the ’Doggerland’ series

The seventh instalment in the internationally bestselling and award-winning crime series set on the fictitious Doggerland.

Karen, Leo and Selma are on Noorö to celebrate midsummer with their family. A phone call from the local police breaks the heightening tension, and Karen grabs her chance to get a break from the ever-stressful company of her relatives, and leaves to help with a disappearance case.

At the same time, Karen’s sister Helena who works as a journalist, has started digging into a story that turns out to be more explosive than she had bargained for. Soon she’s threatened, but instead of being silenced she decides to work together with Karen and gather enough proof to guarantee her safety. To succeed they must leave Doggerland and travel to Sweden.

Silent As the Grave is the seventh book in the series featuring Detective Karen Eiken Hornby (later Friis). This time Adolfsson breaks with tradition and takes us to Stockholm, Sweden, the author’s own home town.

The first book in the series, Fatal Isles, has won the prestigious Petrona Awards in the UK, and the series has sold over 880,000 copies and counting.

‘A successful mixture between Nordic Noir and a classic British whodunit.’

Nya Lidköpings-Tidningen

‘This [series] has terrific characters as well as effectively inventing a new genre, Anglo-Nordic noir.’

Sunday Times (UK)

’Set in the fictional yet completely credible location of Doggerland... the atmospheric setting, akin to the wind- and history-swept Faroe and Shetland Islands, and Nordic climes, enhances the suspenseful and intriguing plot of a police procedural that combines detailed observations and thoughts on the human condition and the interaction between the superbly portrayed characters creates a thrilling tension and believable environment.’

Petrona Awards 2022

Options

Danish: People’s Press (1-6)

Dutch: Luitingh-Sijthoff (1-6)

Estonian: Uhinenud Ajakirjad (1-7)

Finnish: Tammi (1-6)

Hebrew: Modan (1+2)

Icelandic: Forlagid (1-4)

Italian: SEM Libri (1-4)

Norwegian: Bonnier Norsk (1-5)

Publication

Wahlström & Widstrand February 2024

351 pages

Material

Swedish Editions

Series Description

Film & TV Rights

Enquire with agent

Maria Adolfsson (b. 1958) lives in Stockholm where she writes full-time. The Doggerland series has been translated to 20 languages to date and has sold over 880,000 copies in Sweden alone so far.

bonnierrights.se | info@bonnierrights.se

Maria Adolfsson The ’Doggerland’ series

Published in 20 languages, more than 880,000 copies sold across series

Enter Maria Adolfsson’s unique world of Doggerland, the ideal setting for a Nordic Noir series with a twist.

The ’Doggerland’ series is an internationally bestselling and awardwinning series, featuring Detective Karen Eiken Hornby within the unique setting of Maria Adolfsson’s imaginary Doggerland islands, with its own local language, geography, and cultural traditions, rooted in both Britain and Scandinavia.

Fatal Isles is the first book introducing Detective Inspector Karen Eiken Hornby. It’s the morning after Oistra, the big oyster festival on the main island of Doggerland and a woman is found brutally murdered on a secluded part of the island.

In the second book, Wild Shores, it’s Christmas time, and Detective Inspector Karen Eiken Hornby is still off work following the injuries she sustained in the previous book. Now, a man is found dead in a disused quarry, and it looks to be no accident.

In the third instalment, Cruel Tides, Karen Eiken Hornby is tasked with looking into the disappearance of the world-famous singer Luna, who has returned to her native Doggerland to record her comeback album.

In Run or Die, book four, the harbour is crowded when Doggerland’s first Pride parade is taking place. High spirits turn to horror when someone fires a weapon into the crowd, what’s more, Karen is confronted with truths and lies from her own past.

In the fifth book, Downburst, Karen Eiken Hornby is enjoying her maternity leave and is less than pleased at being called back into service to solve a case while, at the same time, protecting her child.

In the sixth instalment, Necessary Evil, it’s Christmas time, and eccentric artist Raymond Osse has vanished from his home. It becomes Karen’s job to support and calm his relatives before a missing person’s report can be filed. But she has also her own family problems that is making life hard for her.

The seventh book, Silent as the Grave, was published in February 2024.

The series has sold over 880,000 copies worldwide, and published in 20 languages and counting. Fatal Isles, the first book , won the Petrona Award in 2022 and was chosen as the Sunday Times Book of the Month after publication in the UK in 2021.

Maria Adolfsson (b. 1958) lives in Stockholm where she writes full-time. The ‘Doggerland’ series has been translated to 20 languages to date and has sold over 880,000 copies across the series so far.

Publishers of Doggerland

Czech: Argo (1-3)

Croatian: Leo Commerce (1-2)

Danish: People’s Press (1-6)

Dutch: Luitingh Sijthoff (1-6)

English (W): Bonnier Zaffre (1-3)

Estonian: Uhinenud Ajakirjad (1-6)

Finnish: Tammi (1-6)

French: Denoel (1-2)

German: Ullstein (1-3)

Hebrew: Keter (1-2)

Hungarian: Gabo Kiado (1-3)

Icelandic: Forlagid (1-4)

Italian: SEM Libri (1-4)

Norwegian: Bonnier Norsk (1-5)

Polish: Foksal (1-3)

Portuguese (BR): Faro (1-2)

Russian: AST(1-2)

Spanish: Salamandra (1)

Turkish: Cinar (1)

Ukrainian: Fabula (1-3)

Publlished by Wahlström & Widstrand 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

Material

Swedish Editions

English Editions

English Sample Translations (1-5)

Series Presentation & Title Synopsis

Jesper Ahlin Marceta

Flödarp Forever

Come along for the ride of your life from Flödarp to Tbilisi and back!

Brilliantly balanced between comedy and family drama, Flödarp Forever is the unexpected, entertaining readingexperience you had no idea you craved this much.

When Jon and Eva grow up in Flödarp, there are forty families, two lonely old people, one bus shelter, three floodgates and, of course, the sawmill. All part of the village’s eco system. Almost all men work at the sawmill, most women do not work at all. Jon and Eva are a mismatched couple – he is restless and always looking for life around the next corner, she does not dare to imagine a future that is different from her past. Ideally, Eva would have stayed in Flödarp forever. And perhaps that would have been the case, if only she hadn't accidentally set the sawmill on fire

This splendidly entertaining novel takes the reader on a journey from the countryside of Skaraborg, to the world city of Tbilisi, and back again. It is a winding and philosophical story about the vagaries of life, and about how some things change over generations, and other things always stay the same.

Inspired by John Irving’s modern eccentricities in books such as The World According to Garp and with just a pinch of Jonas Jonasson’s witt, Jesper Ahlin Marceta’s Flödarp Forever can only be compared to Wes Anderson and his quirky aesthetics. Encountering Jon, Eva, and eventually their children, brings The Royal Tenembaums to mind. Within the integrity of this story, all the unlikely happenings are believable!

The author’s background as a journalist can be told from the immense joy of storytelling noticeable on the page, and his doctoral degree in philosophy can be sensed between the lines.

Welcome to Flödarp, don’t forget to enjoy the ride!

Rights sold All rights available

Publication

Bokförlaget Bazar May 2024 341 pages

Material

Swedish Edition English sample 103pp

Synopsis

Author Letter

Film & TV Rights Rights available

Jesper Ahlin Marceta (b. 1986) is a journalist and philosopher, known for his expertise in political analysis. He is the editor in chief of the Swedish magazine Svensk filosofi. He was born in Mariestad but now lives in Stockholm.

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Agent

johanna.lindborg@bonnierrights.se

Dr. Christian Benedict

SleepYour Way to a Better Life

How breathing, sex, melatonin, weight blankets, a full moon and kiwi can impact your sleeping patterns.

Turn off the light, pull your blanket up, and get ready for an entertaining trip into the world of sleep! Our guide, sleep expert and neuroscientist Dr. Christian Benedict, helps us navigate through the vast sea of advice, rules and tips, that is often both contradictory and difficult to understand.

We sift through the most popular quick fixes, such as weight blankets, sex and kiwis, get to know about the worst sleep disrupters as well as how to prevent them stealing precious good sleep, learn the truth on whether a digital lifestyle can ever be compatible with a full night’s sleep, and even hear about how sleep can make not only you, but all of society richer, smarter, healthier, and more attractive.

Dr. Christian Benedict is a researcher, docent in neuroscience and associate professor in Pharmacology at Uppsala University, as well as the scientific spokesman of the Swedish Sleep Society. He is also a wellknown and beloved figure from popular scientific shows on tv, radio and podcasts, and the co-author of Sleep, sleep, sleep.

Sleep Your Way to a Better Life combines entertaining anecdotes and fast tips and tricks with introducing the newest studies in cutting-edge sleep science to the masses, making it both a perfect introduction if you are new to sleepless nights, or if you have already tried and tested everything without success.

Read it today and sleep better already tonight!

Rights sold

Italian: De Agostini

Norwegian: Spartacus

Options

Estonian: Pegasus

German: Eden Books

Japanese: Sunmark

Publication

Bonnier Fakta

October 2023

176 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation 44pp

Author Letter

Chapter Outline

Dr. Christian Benedict (b. 1976 in Hamburg, Germany) is a sleep researcher based in Uppsala, Sweden. He holds a Ph.D. in Human Biology and is a Docent in Neuroscience at Uppsala University. Christian Benedict is known for studying the adverse health effects of sleep deprivation and the importance of sleep for overall well-being. He has been involved in various research projects on sleep, nutrition, and brain function, and his work is widely recognized in the scientific community.

bonnierrights.se | info@bonnierrights.se

Film & TV Rights Rights Available

Mikael Berglund

The Aboveground

Winner of the Swedish Radio Novel Prize 2023

An understated, multidimensional literary novel about allconsuming love, dire misunderstandings, and memories buried in the very ground we walk on.

It isn’t until one of the last days of Oskar’s summer job at a pre-school in Ammarnäs, when he first sees Eija. She steps of her motorcycle to pick up her baby brother, smelling of sweat, fuel, smoke and the reindeers that she keeps. Oskar immediately realizes that this meeting will transform his life. But he is about to leave to go back south, and she is pregnant with another man’s child, and so nothing can happen between them.

There’s just something about Eija, the people, the mountains, waterways, and the very air around it all that opens Oskar up to his own Samí roots. He tries to move on, but time and again he gets drawn back to Ammarnäs, back to Eija.

The Aboveground is an evocative story about belonging and loyalty, about language and trust, and how the very ground we walk on can give way when two people manage to get really close to each other. If only for a brief moment.

Mikael Berglund’s portrayal of the relationship between Oskar and Eija is subtle yet spellbinding. Showing how even a love as strong as theirs can be torn apart by miscommunication and doubt. Written in a succinct, visceral style that cuts directly to the core, Berglund captures the wild, violent beauty of the nature surrounding them.

The Aboveground has it all; A great love story, a captivating depiction of Samí culture, an exploration of masculinity, and the hardships in trying to find belonging as an outsider.

‘Several passages in this novel are so beautiful in their austerity that I can’t read on, I have to linger.’

Gefle Dagblad

‘The language comes alive, twists and turns; unrelentingly inventive.’

Svenska Dagbladet

Rights sold

All rights available

Publication

Albert Bonniers Förlag May 2022

211 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation 70pp

Author Letter

Synopsis

Film & TV Rights Available

Mikael Berglund (b. 1977) was born in Ammarnäs and grew up in Umeå, where he still lives. He debuted in 2015 with the novel An Object’s Tale of Unrequital, which was nominated for the acclaimed Catapult Award. The Aboveground is his third novel. Apart from writing, Mikael works as a graphic designer and runs a book café in Umeå. bonnierrights.se | info@bonnierrights.se

Daniel Birnbaum

Schellenberg’s Ring

A new, suggestive novella by praised art expert-turned-author

Following the success of Dr. B, Daniel Birnbaum is back with a novella centered around the Venice Biennale 1942.

“Prince Eugene was there. And my friend, Grünewald, despite being jewish. Still, it’s as if the exhibition never happened.”

The year is 1942. War is raging, and yet Sweden is supposed to be a part of the increasingly ethically compromised Venice Biennale. An idealistic and visionary art critic is given the task to ship the Swedish contributions to the scandalous exhibition.

By pure chance he runs into the mysterious SS officer Walter Schellenberg, who has surprising connections to Sweden. Suddenly, doors are being opened into secluded societies that normally shy the light, as well as the secrets of history.

Daniel Birnbaum is back in fine form, with a thrilling novella set in a world normally obscured to outsiders, in which he himself as the head of the 2009 Venice Biennale has unique knowledge. Schellenberg’s Ring is a razor sharp novella about art, power and secrets, in which reality and fantasy meet in a sublime collision.

His debut, Dr. B, a novel about his grand-father Immanuel Birnbaum was published in 2018 to great acclaim, and was translated into 8 languages.

Praise for previous title:

‘If you’re looking for a ridiculously brilliant story, you can stop looking He’s got the world’s best story he’s got DR B.’

Svenska Dagbladet

‘Daniel Birnbaum is the grandmaster of the art world, an überintellectual, yet fairly grounded wonderboy. DR B is an astonishing thriller-novel reminiscent of both Hjalmar Söderberg’s Doctor Glass as well as the dreamy melancholy in The Rings of Saturn by W.G Sebald.’ Aftonbladet

Rights sold

All rights available

Options

Dutch: Uitgeverij Querido

English (US): HarperCollins US

English (UK): 4th Estate

Estonian: Rahva

French: Gallimard

German: Piper Verlag

Italian: La Nave di Teseo

Portuguese (EU): Porta Editora

Publication

Albert Bonniers Förlag

May 2024

150 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation

Film & TV Rights

Daniel Birnbaum (b. 1963) is a critic and professor in art theory. He previously headed up the Modern Museum of Art in Stockholm, and has produced exhibitions in museums in Europe, Asia and the US. In 2009 he was the head of the Venice Biennale, which is the scene of Schellenberg’s Ring

Rights Available

matilda.fogelstrom@bonnierrights.se bonnierrights.se | info@bonnierrights.se

Hanna Blixt

Gazebo by the Pond

Book 4 in the ’Love in Leksand’ series

Set in a wintry wonderland of red cabins smelling of hot chocolate, the newest feelgood novel from awardwinning author Hanna Blixt is the fourth book in the 100,000 copy bestselling series.

Working at a PR agency in Stockholm is growing evermore tiresome and heavy, until one day Hilma decides that enough is enough. Rolling the dice, she quits her job and starts looking for something, anything, else that might be out there.

A sudden impulse makes her send in her application to a café that makes chocolate, situated in a gorgeous gazebo in Leksand. She’s never really had a hankering for moving north, but a picture of the café evokes some unexplainable longing inside her. To her surprise, she’s hired, and who knows? This move to Dalarna might be the start of something new. Something big!

Parallel to Hilma’s story we follow a boy who grows up in the 1960’s in the same village. Who is he? And how much loneliness can one person take?

Gazebo by the Pond is a warm, romantic, and touching story about dreams, friendship and love, as well as the need for community and a purposeful life.

This is the fourth book in the ‘Love in Leksand’ series which has taken Sweden by storm and sold over 100,000 copies and counting. The first three books in the series follow Nora and Viktor’s love story, and so Gazebo by the Pond marks a new beginning in the series with the introduction of Hilma. All books can be read independently, and are centred around Leksand up north in the romantic, red-cabin-filled Dalarna.

Book 1, Glass Veranda by the Lake, introduces Nora and Viktor, as well as the mesmerizing landscape of Leksand. In book 2, The Waterfront Gallery, they open up a little gallery together, and in book 3, Balcony with an Ocean View, which also won the Adlibris Award for Best Feelgood Novel of 2022, we follow the couple on vacation to the Caribbean.

Hanna Blixt (b. 1979) writes bestselling, award-winning women’s fiction. She began as a writer of YA before her ’Love in Leksand’ feelgood series, which has gone on to sell over 100,000 copies and win awards. Gazebo by the Pond marks a new beginning for the authorship, as she’s moved to Bazar förlag with her fourth independent book in the series.

Rights sold

Czech: Metafora (4)

Danish: Straarup & Co (1-5)

German: Penguin Verlag (1+4)

Options

Estonian: Tammerramaat (1)

Previous publishers of Leksand series

Italian: Vallardi (1)

Norwegian: Bonnier Norsk (1)

Publication

Bazar Förlag

October 2023

272 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation 26pp

Synopsis

Series Description

Author Letter

Film & TV Rights

Rights Available

bonnierrights.se | info@bonnierrights.se

Anna Brynhildsen Thinner Than Water

A dazzling, European family tale spanning four days and a hundred years

A mesmerizing literary break-through about family ties, generational trauma, secrets we keep and lies we tell ourselves.

A father, daughter, and niece go to Berlin for four days, ostensibly to visit the memorial stolperstein that bears their last name. However, it’ll turn out that all three have ulterior motives for their trip, and secrets that are brewing beneath the surface...

The father, Mats, has decided to donate his mother’s letters from WWII to the Jewish Museum, and wants to make use of the trip to let his daughter, Evi, know that he is divorcing her mother. As a buffer he’s invited his niece Sara to come along, hoping that this will ease Evi’s pain as the two girls have always had a strong bond.

Sara has her own reasons for visiting Berlin, as there is someone there she longs to meet. Her life has recently seemed like a prison of her own making, and she is desperately looking for a way out. Meanwhile, Evi does not agree with her father’s decision to give their grandmother’s letters away, and has her own plans for them.

This is a story that both spans over four days and hundreds of years, as we simultaneously travel back into the family’s history. From the small town of Pyritz, to Berlin and further on to Sweden, placing their personal family history in the grander historical context.

With uncanny precision and unwavering empathy, Anna Brynhildsen depicts a family in crisis. It’s reminiscent of Tessa Hadley’s works, as Anna charts the complicated ties that bind the trio together. She deftly navigates between the ubiquitous human experience of previous generations’ decisions affecting the life of today. And specifically, the Jewish family experience, and in doing so does for Swedish literature what Jonathan Safran Foer’s Here I Am did in the US.

’Anna Brynhildsen’s Thinner Than Water surprised me in its high quality. The ardour with which she writes her three characters, their relationships and parallel to the family story under the 30s and the nazi story, are convincing and haunting. A significant talent!’

Per Wästberg, chairman in the Swedish Academy

Anna Brynhildsen (b. 1992) grew up in Linköping and now lives in Malmö. She has a masters in Literary Studies and a BA in Creative Writing from the author school in Lund.

Rights sold

German: S. Fischer

Publication

Wahlström & Widstrand October 2023

316 pages

Material Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation 78pp

Synopsis Author Letter

Film & TV Rights Rights Available

Åke Edwardson Treblinka Comedy Club

A new literary novel by a pioneer and central figure on the Swedish detective scene

1941.

Hatred is rapidly spreading across Europe, seeping into people's minds through cracks and crannies. The German Reich is well on the rise and fear of what's to come holds everyone who doesn’t fit the ideal, in a tight grip.

Arne Hoffmann was born and raised in Berlin, Germany, and is now an American journalist and a Jewish comedian. He hasn't been back in Berlin for over twenty years but as a journalist for The New York Post, he feels compelled to return home and report on what's happening behind the borders of the German Reich. He's also worried about his cousin, who stayed behind. With rumours of Jewish people disappearing, he feels desperate to get her out before it's too late.

With a naive perspective of what's to come, Arne travels to Berlin, thinking he can help his cousin and her family leave the city without revealing his own identity and family background. However, it's only a matter of time before the high-ups within the dictatorship he's been getting closer to thanks to his profession, realize that they’re dealing with not only a journalist and comedian, but a Jew.

Treblinka Comedy Club is a celebration of life and a tribute to one of the darkest periods in modern history. With a backpack full of research, Åke Edwardson brilliantly combines fiction with historical events and people, such as Hermann Göring and Reinhard Heydrich. All the while, the main character's humour shines through with jokes that Åke Edwardson has picked up from history books and interviews.

In five acts, Åke Edwardson guides the reader through Berlin during World War II, ending the story with the uproar at the Treblinka extermination camp in Poland. Treblinka Comedy Club is a thoughtprovoking novel in the style of Jojo Rabbit. The book is filled with dark humour and historical facts, making it a compelling page-turner that you won't be able to put down until the very end when Treblinka begins to crumble to the ground.

Rights sold

All rights available

Publication

Albert Bonniers Förlag March 2024

470 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation

Synopsis

Author Letter

Film & TV Rights Rights Available

‘This is a brilliant story that expertly balances through a vicious time.’ BTJ

Åke Edwardson (b. 1953) is a pioneer and central figure on the Swedish detective fiction scene. His crime novels have won the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy Award for best crime novel. Edwardson’s books have sold over seven million copies in 27 languages. With Treblinka Comedy Club he moves away from crime novels and embraces the literary scene with renewed vigor.

bonnierrights.se | info@bonnierrights.se

Kerstin Ekman

My World of Books An Essay Collection on a Life Well Read

Kerstin Ekman, acclaimed author of The Wolf Run and Blackwater, goes into dialogue with her own literary heroes.

Kerstin Ekman hardly needs an introduction. Since her debut in 1959, she has reached a position of a living legend on the Swedish, and international, literary scene. Her most recent novel, The Wolf Run, has sold to 21 territories and been published to high acclaim all over Europe. She has won uncountable literary awards, and has been part of the Swedish Academy. Her internationally bestselling novel Blackwater was recently turned into a TV-series, 30 years after original publication.

Now, she has written a collection of essays about books and authors that have influenced her own life as a writer, and as a reader. In 24 chapters, Kerstin Ekman shares personal and powerful experiences she’s been gifted from reading. She talks about books she has come to love, books as friends, as comfort – and about how reading and writing go together.

"Is it stupid to get into thick and good books so early in life that you can't really understand them? I don't think so. You enter a fascinating world, and you can later return to it and figure out a lot that you didn't understand from the beginning. Each re-read opens new rooms in the story. And it opens, at best, unfamiliar rooms within yourself."

’Despite its humble form, this is a very extraordinary book by one of the 20th century’s most important Swedish writers. With her own bookshelf as a stepping stone, Kerstin Ekman writes an intimate book about her life road and reading – unforgettable texts that show that there is more light in the world than darkness.’

Dagens Nyheter

‘This year’s most glorious book: the queen of Swedish literature summarizes a life of reading.’

Göteborgsposten

Rights sold

Danish: Gyldendal

Norwegian: Aschehoug

Options

Albanian: Muza

Bulgarian: Znaci

Catalan: Los Hores

Croatian: Naklada Illyria

Czech: Bourdon

Dutch: Ambo Anthos

Estonian: Varrak

Faroese: Sprotin

Finnish: Tammi

French: Denöel

German: Piper Verlag

Hungarian: Libri Kiado

Icelandic: Úgla útgafa

Italian: Iperborea

Lithuanian: Baltos Lankos

Serbian: Vulkan

Spanish: Tusquets Editores

Turkish: İnkilap Kitabevi

Ukrainian: Books XXI

Publication

Albert Bonniers Förlag August 2023

425 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

Kerstin Ekman (b. 1933) debuted in 1959 as a crime writer. In 1978 she was elected to the Swedish Academy, and left her chair in 1989. Her rich narratives have made her one of the most widely read Swedish writers of the twentieth century. Her works are translated into 30 languages and she has won most major national literary prizes, including the August Prize twice, and the Nordic Council Literature Prize.

bonnierrights.se | info@bonnierrights.se

Horace Engdahl Travels with Mr. Hume

A rich & educational journey through culture & literature with one of Sweden’s foremost thinkers

From one of Sweden’s foremost literary theorists, philosophers, and intellectuals comes new collection of essays.

“The social pressure that comes with being in a in a tram is easy to master. If I want to, I can immerse myself in reading a book, taking notes or meditating with my eyes closed. Quiet conversations can take place in my head without disturbing or offending my fellow passengers, who do not notice my invisible companion. As soon as I sat down in my seat, I am no longer alone. Today I have Mr. Hume as company. This gentleman occupies neither a seat nor a standing position. He died on 25 August 1776 in Edinburgh.”

On the tram in Gothenburg, author, literary critic, and theorist Horace Engdahl, goes into discourse with the famous Scottish philosopher David Hume, who passed away in 1776.

Their conversation continues through-out the book but is interspersed with essays on subjects that come up in their dialogue. We move from 18th century French female conversationalist experts, to Rousseau’s paranoia, and the history of luxury at the same pace as the tram ride we are on moves through Gothenburg. Always with the underlying question at hand: is there anything such as good and evil?

Part Engdahl’s unique style that has developed over recent years, a form of reflective short prose that he calls ’fragments’, and in part traditional essayistic writing, Travels With Mr. Hume is as personal, educational, entertaining, and direct antidote to anti-intellectualism.

‘Engdahl is striking and fiery, an almost incomprehensibly educated, elderly gentleman whose memory seems almost unlimited. He effortlessly mixes fascinating details, broad brush strokes and unexpected observations. Rarely has great learning moved with such ease. That is because it is supported by sparkling linguistic art.’

Norrländska Socialdemokraten about op. 101

Horace Engdahl (b. 1948) has left a lasting and clear mark on Swedish cultural life as an author, literary critic, and theorist. In 1997 he was elected to the Swedish Academy, and worked as their permanent secretary for ten years. The red thread in his authorship has been literary criticism, but in recent years he has forayed into a style of reflective short prose, aphorisms, and fragments. Beginning with Cigaretten efteråt (2011) that was published in six languages. With his direct way of addressing his audience, deliberate disregard for political correctness, and undaunted approach to handling life’s big questions, his books have won large audiences far beyond the literary specialists.

Options

Danish: Jensen & Dalgaard

Finnish: Siltala

French: Serge Safran

Italian: Adiuvare

Publication

Albert Bonniers Förlag

September 2023

196 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

Author Bio

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maria.montner@bonnierrights.se

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Pernilla Ericson

Dry Spell

Book 3 in the ’Four Elements’ series

An obliviated villa. An extreme drought causing political tension to rise. A ransom letter about a kidnapped child who is presumed dead, and while she is running out of water, you are running out of time…

The atmosphere in Nynäshamn is tense, a severe drought has struck Sweden and farmers' crops are quickly drying up. Livestock must be slaughtered, and food prices are skyrocketing. Police investigator Lilly Hed, who’s six months pregnant, investigates a devastating explosion in a villa nearby with no survivors. It is assumed that the Västlund couple and their six-year-old daughter Maja have died in the explosion. What a first sight is believed to be an accident, slowly develops into a murder investigation. But who had motive?

Lilly is exhausted, her pregnancy is anything but easy and at the same time the legal process against her violent ex is in a decisive phase. But Lilly's private life fades when someone claims via a ransom letter to have kidnapped Maja. As long as the requirements are not met, the girl will be denied water and so, the clock starts ticking...

Dry Spell is a dense and nail-biting thriller about a brutal perpetrator who operates under the radar when society is paralyzed by relentless drought. The third book in ‘Four Elements’ series will make sure to keep you at the edge of your seat…

Praise for the series:

‘I love the way Pernilla Ericson writes, so driven and constantly exciting and believable. You can’t put the book down, so make sure you have it with you wherever you go when you interact with the characters in this exciting series.‘

Aftonbladet

‘Realistic and hair-raising, a brilliant depiction of unrelenting police work under exceptional circumstances.’

Expressen

Rights sold

German: Fischer (1-4)

Norwegian: Aschehoug (1-3)

Publication

Romanus & Selling March 2024

300 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation 51pp

Synopsis Author Letter

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Rights Available

Pernilla Ericson (b. 1979) is a journalist and columnist focusing on equality and climate issues at the Swedish evening newspaper, Aftonbladet. Dry Spell is her seventh book and the third one in the thriller series featuring Lilly Hed. The ‘Four Elements’ series are established Pernilla Ericson as a crime author who’s here to stay.

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Åsa Hellberg España Por Favor

Book 1 in the ‘Everybody wants to go to Spain’ feelgood series

Åsa Hellberg is in high form in this new contemporary feelgood series, in which three childhood friends decide to make the most of life after 60 by moving to Spain!

Three things happen at the same time in the calm village of Fjällfors in Northern Sweden: Mia's husband dies right when she discovers he has been cheating on her, Noora's daughter becomes pregnant on her own and expects unconditional support from the grandma-to-be, and Lotta is forced to move in with her ex-husband in Luleå following bad medical news.

Wasn’t life supposed to get better after 60? And what’s going to happen with the three best friends’ dream of Spain? As they keep on fighting off the cold and darkness of Swedish winter, Lotta sings Y viva España at church choir loud enough for the angels to hear her, Noora is told by her psychic that opening up a crystal shop in Spain is not in the cards for her right now, and Mia’s world is suddenly shaken by Pedro who works at the local pizzeria.

But when mute 81-year-old Dolores decides to take action, with her straw hat and homesickness, everything changes once again for the trio. Suddenly, a van is on its way through Europe, heading for Torrevieja!

Åsa Hellberg’s books have reached immense popularity among both Swedish and international readers. No one depicts female desires, friendships and self-exploration quite like she does. Her authorship has previously been translated to 20 languages and her books have sold over 600,000 copies in Sweden alone.

España por Favor is reminiscent of her early breakthrough with the beloved series about Sonja, mixed with Jo Thomas’ heart-warming escapism and romance as she explores life after 60 with great humour and compassion.

‘The story puts the reader in a great mood, and you immediately want to read on about the lovely trio and their future adventures .’

‘Love, a new beginning and surprising chances in a radiant mix perfect for reading or listening to immediately.’

Selma Stories

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All rights available

Options

Dutch: Xander

Estonian: Varrak

Publication

Bokförlaget Forum January 2024

323 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation 89pp

Synopsis

Author Letter

Film & TV Rights Rights available

Åsa Hellberg (b. 1962) grew up in Fjällbacka, southwestern Sweden. She is one of Sweden’s most beloved commercial women’s fiction writers and is author of the acclaimed ‘Sonja’ series and the London-set ‘Flanagans’ trilogy. She lives in Stockholm.

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Agent Johanna Lindborg

johanna.lindborg@bonnierrights.se

Håkan Nesser

A Letter From Munich

A new murder mystery for Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti!

A Letter From Munich is the eighth title in the ‘Barbarotti’ series, and this time Barbarotti investigates the intricate murder of the world-famous artist Ludvig Rute.

It is Christmas Weekend, during the pandemic year of 2020, and the wellknown artist Ludvig Rute invites his siblings - against all restrictions - to a celebration in the remote locality of Sillingbo. He has something he wants to tell them. They have not seen each other for many years and the atmosphere is tense, to say the least. It doesn't get any better when a murder takes place on Christmas Eve. All of the guests can be suspected of the murder. Everyone has something to hide.

Gunnar Barbarotti and Eva Backman are called in and begin an investigation that, under heavy snowfall and in the shadow of the pandemic, has all the markings of a classic locked-room mystery. At least initially...

The ‘Barbarotti’ series follows Detective Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti, and originally consisted of five instalments published between 2006 and 2012. The celebrated Barbarotti books have sold 2,5 million copies in Sweden, and more than five million copies internationally.

’Håkan Nesser is an extraordinarily skilled storyteller, and as usual, a big part of the enjoyment of the story lies in the dialogue between Barbarotti and Backman. They reason, try ideas, twist and turn the witness stories.’

Dagens Nyheter

’My favourite inspectors, Gunnar Barbarotti and Eva Backman, are called to the case and it’s an honor to follow them while they step by step get closer to the answer to the riddle. And when it is finally revealed, it’s so spectacular that I almost get heart palpitations.’

Aftonbladet

‘It is rare to feel safe when embarking on a new crime novel, but when it is written by Håkan Nesser that is exactly how to feel. Already on the first page, or possibly even earlier, one can sort of lean back. You are safe with the language, safe with the story and its construction, confident that the reader will be entertained along the way.’

Göteborgs-Posten

Rights sold

Czech: MOBA

Danish: Modtryk

Dutch: De Geus

German: btb Verlag

Italian: Guanda

Norwegian: Gyldendal Norsk

Polish: Czarna Owca

Options

Bulgarian:EMAS

Finnish:Tammi

Estonian:Pegasus

Latvian:ZvaigzneABC

Publication

Albert Bonniers Förlag

August 2023

394 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

Synopsis

Author Biography

Film & TV Rights

Not available

Håkan Nesser (b. 1950) is one of Sweden's most beloved and renowned authors. He resides on the secluded island of Gotland, where he spends his days writing. His books have sold over 20 million copies in more than 30 languages.

bonnierrights.se | info@bonnierrights.se

Agent

Johanna Lindborg

johanna.lindborg@bonnierrights.se

Håkan Nesser

The ’Barbarotti’ series

From the Godfather of Swedish Crime

A re-awakened classic crime series by award-winning author Håkan Nesser, which has already sold over 2,5 million copies in Sweden and over 5 million copies internationally.

Although introduced as a new crime series, Håkan Nesser’s Barbarotti stories deviate from the structure of classic crime novels. The first title, The Darkest Day (2006), shows the dark secrets of a seemingly ordinary Swedish family when two family members disappear on the eve of a birthday celebration. The Root of Evil (2007) is written from the perspective of the murderer, giving the reader a head start over the police. The third title, The Secret Life of Mr. Roos (2008), is above all the story of a man leaving his old life behind to find a new start. The Lonely Ones (2010), goes back in time to the 1970s, and a group of students whose travels behind the iron curtain will change them forever.

The Axe Woman (2012) is the fifth and final title in the series, and finds Barbarotti, beset by grief, having to tackle a five years old case of a missing person. The case is connected to a decades old murder in peculiar ways, a horrific murder that – until now – was thought to be solved.

The Culpability of Albin Runge (2020) is the first true return of Gunnar Barbarotti, and the first book in the series to take place in the picturesque isle of Gotland, as Gunnar Barbarotti and Eva Backman try to solve a deeply personal unsolved case. The Last Days and Death of a Scribe (2021) revolves around a long-lost manuscript and features the world of publishing, taking place during the pandemic. A Letter From Munich (2023) is the eight instalment of the series.

‘Nesser is in the front rank of Swedish crime writers.’ The Times (UK)

‘Nesser has a penetrating eye for the skull beneath the skin.’

New York Times (US)

‘An exceptionally gifted author – maybe the best in Sweden!’ Hamburger Abendblatt (Germany)

Håkan Nesser (b. 1950) is one of Sweden's most beloved and renowned authors. He is the first author to win three awards for Best Crime Novel from the Swedish Crime Association, and the first author to ever win the Palle Rosencrantz award twice. He is also the recipient of the first ’Golden Revolver’ for international crime writers from the Riverton Club in ten years, and has been rewarded with H.M. The King’s Medal for his authorship in Sweden. His books have sold over 20 million copies in more than 30 languages. Today he lives on the isle of Gotland.

Publishers of Barbarotti

Bulgarian: Emas Publishing (1-2)

Czech: Bastei Moba (1-8)

Danish: Modtryk (1-8)*

Dutch: Uitgeverij De Geus (1-8)*

English (UK): Mantle (Macmillan) (1-5)

Estonian: Kirjastus Pegasus (1)

Finnish: Tammi (1-7)*

French: Seuil (1)

German: btb Verlag (1-8)*

Italian: Ugo Guanda (1-8)*

Latvian: Zvaigzne ABC (1)

Norwegian: Vigmostad & Björke (1-3)

Gyldendal Norsk Forlag (4-9)*

Polish: Czarna Owca (1-8)*

Russian: Ripol (1)

Spanish: Planeta (1-3) RBA Libros (1)

Published by

Albert Bonniers Förlag 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2018*, 2020, 2021, 2023

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Film

Lina Nordquist

Hunger Winner of Book of theYear Award 2022

A stunning historical novel by Lina Nordquist who excels with her sharp pen and an eye on society. Hunger became her international breakthrough in 2021.

In the early 20th century, Unni, Armod and little Roar are forced to flee Norway due to Unni performing illegal abortions and were pending imprisonment. They need to find a new home in Sweden and amid the blue mountains and the pitch-black forest in Hälsingland, they stumble across an abandoned cottage. It’s located somewhere between the wilderness and a small village, and the family of three must bunker down in the cottage. They need to adapt to the new country and survive the force of nature and the viciousness of the farmer who owns the cottage.

In the 70’s, Kåra sits by the dining room table that Armod crafted himself. She’s planning the funeral for Roar, her father-in-law. While planning, Kåra has noticed flaws in the family history and when she begins to peal of the layers the flaws turn into deep fractures and Kåra discovers unspoken secrets that has been passed through generations. What really happen in the cottage all those years ago? And with a love greater than all for her family; why did Unni abandon them in the end?

Kåra feel her agitation grow the deeper she digs into the family past, and she feels an urge to break the chain of silence about everything that lays hidden. If she doesn’t, Kåra fears the madness in her mind will once and for all take over.

Hunger is a gripping and dark family drama told through generations of the same family. It is about love and family ties. Through Unni and Kåra, Lina Nordquist beautifully jumps between two timelines, and depicts love that conquers all boarders.

‘Hunger is above all a warm and moving story, skillfully chiseled out, with complex and authentic characters. An impressive and promising debut, to say the least.’

Falukuriren

Rights sold

Croatian: Fraktura

Czech: Host

Danish: Gutkind

Estonian: Eesti Raamat

Finish: Schildts Förlag

French: Büchet / Chastel

German: Diogenes Verlag

Hungarian: Európa Könyvkiadó

Lithuanian: Baltos Lankos

Norwegian: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag

Russian: AST

Publication

Romanus & Selling

August 2021

368 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

Author Letter

Film

Lina Nordquist (b. 1977) was born and raised in Hälsingland, and now lives in Uppsala with her family. When she is not writing books Lina serves as a member of the Swedish parliament. Lina made her literary debut in August 2021 with Hunger, for which she received the Book of the Year Award.

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Lina Nordquist Solace

The new historical novel by the winner of the Book of theYear Award 2022

Lina Nordquist returns with a new, heartbreaking literary novel about a society in despair and one young boy’s desperate wish to do right by his family.

1935, Brynäs, Sweden. The young mother Benedikte no longer has a choice; there is no food left in the cupboards, the eviction notice is on the kitchen table, and her two small boys are slowly fading away while their bellies ache.

In 2023, Eder reminisces about his mother, how she had to push her own boundaries and what she was forced to do in order to save him and his baby brother. He also remembers his childhood miracle; his grandfather’s cabin in Rengsjö, the warmth in the kitchen, and the turnip mash he served with butter.

Eder will never forget the feeling of watching his safe haven come crumbling down and how the truth finally would catch up with them all, destroying what they had rebuilt as a family. But Eder will also always remember the feeling of true love.

Praised author Lina Nordquist returns with Solace, a historical novel about family, betrayal, and love. Most of all, it’s about courage and finding comfort in a cabin by the hill and blue mountains of Hälsingland.

Praise for previous work:

‘Hunger is an impressive debut. A drama about life and death that is portrayed with a peculiar and restrained, yet vibrating language. It decpits love, madness, and belonging.’

– Tidningen M

‘Lina Nordquist draws the reader into a whirlwind of leaves, snow, soil, blood, and dizzying passions. A mixture of a social novel à la Dickens, a psychological drama à la Bergman, and a Nordic thriller, Hunger is an addictive humanistic fable that summarizes all the horror and beauty of the world in a luminous fairytale.’

– Les Echos (FR)

Lina Nordquist (b. 1977) was born and raised in Hälsingland, and now lives in Uppsala with her family. When she is not writing books Lina serves as a member of the Swedish parliament. She made her literary debut in 2021 with Hunger, which she received the Book of the Year Award. Solace is her third novel and will be published in March, this year.

Rights Sold

French: Büchet / Chastel

Option publishers

Croatian: Fraktura

Czech: Host

Danish: Gutkind

Estonian: Eesti Raamat

Finish: Schildts Förlag

German: Diogenes Verlag

Hungarian: Európa Könyvkiadó

Lithuanian: Baltos Lankos

Norwegian: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag

Russian: AST

Publication

Romanus & Selling

March 2024

428 pages

Material

Swedish Final Copies

English Sample Translation

Author Letter

Synopsis

bonnierrights.se | info@bonnierrights.se

Pauline Olsson Goreishi

Alejandro.

They loved each other like brothers, now only one of them still exists

“I press the phone hard to my ear and feel my cheek get hot and sweaty when Adam says Hello, do you know what has happened, Alejandro is gone. Adam says Hello, do you know what has happened, Alejandro is dead.”

When Adam calls to tell our unnamed protagonist that Alejandro is dead, his world begins to crumble. It had been a while since they last spoke, but if Alejandro is dead, how can he still be alive?

A wildly poetic reminiscence of their brotherly bond takes us through their upbringing and into their teenage years. Where new friends introduces marijuana, leading to an innocent side hustle selling grass to save up for a car. That was before their group of friends started to get into real trouble.

We also follow closely the aftermath of Alejandro’s death. Unable to deal with his grief and disconnected from his emotions, our protagonist makes impulsive decisions by breaking up with his girlfriend, and calling Alejandro’s mother in the middle of the night. Trying to make sense of this new, emptier world.

Reading Alejandro., it is hard to believe that Pauline Olsson Goreishi is a debutant. The novel is imaginative and experimental in form, playfully poetic, and brilliantly opens up the mind of a troubled young man. Through his stream of consciousness, Pauline subtly comments on the current state of the world, where drugs are in abundance and young boys get dragged into dangerous situations. Where the worst could happen at any time.

The author has an absolute-pitch for the temperament of her main character and hits the quartertones of both despair and comedy when describing his view of his surroundings.

This is a topical depiction of a group of male friends in present-day Malmö, dealing with matters that bring Yahya Hassan’s poems to mind, but it is also an utterly engaging story of a young man navigating through the deepest sorrow whilst coming of age.

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All rights available

Publication

Albert Bonniers Förlag April 2024

182 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation

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Pauline

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Olsson Ghoreishi (b. 1997) grew up in Knivsta and lives in Malmö. She is a journalist educated at Skurup College and has taken a writing course at Wik College. Alejandro. is her debut.

Christian Rück Suicide for Beginners A Social History and Modern Perspective on Life and Death

In 1983, Michael Jackson was breaking records with the hit song Billy Jean, U2 sang about Sunday Bloody Sunday, and Nena about 99 Luftballons. 1983 was also the year when Liz Rück, Christian’s aunt, died. The cause of death was suicide.

In Suicide for Beginners, psychiatrist Christian Rück takes us on a deep dive into the societal issue we are rarely brave enough to discuss, even though it’s a topic we need to destigmatize. What can we do when a child dies? Should a 104-year-old professor be allowed to make a decision about ending their own life at a death clinic in Switzerland? And how come no other species than humans die by suicide?

Christian reflects on society’s changing perception of this phenomenon through the ages, and presents how suicide was a part of the legend of how the Roman empire came to be, Plato’s views on suicide, and the relationship between suicide and sin from religious points of view.

Through the cultural history of suicide, he leads us back to present day with a very steady hand.

Over twelve chapters, Rück does not shy away from asking the toughest questions, mixing the practical and philosophical. Sweden was the first country in the world to set a national action programme for suicide prevention, and since then, similar efforts have spread across the world; but how do they vary? Christian also ask the question: can we better understand life when we’re faced with death?

With his sharp pen, respectful manner, and compassionate warmth, Christian Rück lets his knowledge and expertise as a psychiatrist, professor, and scientific advisor for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, guide the reader through this controversial topic. Christian also shares conversations he has had with other researchers, and testimonies from people who has lost someone to suicide. His own personal experience runs through the whole book as a common thread.

Suicide for Beginners will break your heart, but also give you hope.

Rights sold

Czech: Mapcards

Publication

Albert Bonniers Förlag January 2024

180 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation

Chapter description

Author Letter

Christian Rück is a psychiatrist and professor at Karolinska Institutet, one of the world’s foremost medical universities. He is also one of the experts on the highly popular Insidan panel, a part of the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. Additionally, Christian also serves as a scientific advisor for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

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Donia Saleh

Bile Red

The highly anticipated second novel by a rising literary star in Swedish literary fiction

A traumatized woman, trapped within her own mind, and her niece, try to find remedy in each other’s company.

Shock wave treatment is the only thing that can spare Golan from the memories of blood flooding between the mountains, and all the men, the mothers, and the poppies. The naïve and innocent Aya, Golan’s niece, desperately seeks her love and attention, while Golan wants nothing more than to forget and wipe away all memories, seeking only a black void.

Golan leaves Aya clinging to her hand while receiving nothing but harsh and destructive love, it is all Golan has left. Aya regards her aunt with both horror and delight and tries to reminisce about their past, and her childhood while the loneliness creeps in and threatens to tear Aya apart. Who is she without the bold and powerful love that Golan used to shower her in, and demanded in return? If she is not meant to be Golan’s closest commandant, what’s her purpose? Who is her family? As she pushes further into Golan’s existence and Aya’s own loneliness, something inside her threatens to explode.

Bile Red is Donia Saleh’s second novel in which she continues to explore identity, trauma, and how an uncertain world can drive us all to the brink of madness. She has already established herself as an important and fresh voice in the Swedish literary sphere, with this novel only further implementing her talent.

Praise for previous title:

’Ya Leila is a melancholic novel with a satire edge, a glittering black diamont all in all, a brilliant debut.’

Landskrona-Posten

’I love it. It’s written with timing, humour, precision as well as frivolity, intuition, distilled observation and solid compassion. Another word is talent.’

Expressen

Donia Saleh (b. 1996) is born and raised in Uppsala, and now lives in Stockholm. She is a graduate of the Master’s programme in Creative Writing at Akademin Valand. Today she works as a literary critic and writer. Her debut came in 2020 with Ya Leila, for which she was nominated for the Borås Debut Prize and the Catapult Prize for Best Swedish Debut. Bile Red is her second novel.

| info@bonnierrights.se

Rights sold

All rights available

Publication

Albert Bonniers Förlag March 2024

234 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation

Synopsis

Author Letter

Film & TV Rights Rights Available

Gun

-Britt Sundström Engagement

Rediscovered classic in the vein of Tove Ditlevsen, now relaunched

With sales of over 60,000 copies since the relaunch, Engagement is a masterful modern classic that is everrelevant and ever-fascinating.

What is it to be a couple? What responsibilites can one presume, and what can you ask from each other; Time? Sex? Faithfulness? Is it different if one marries? And can you live together if you have differing ideals for how a relationship should be?

These are the types of questions that Martina and Gustav discuss with each other, and others, as they try to break the mould and make their relationship work. They give up, and leave each other. But always seem to come back to one another. Again, and again.

The novel takes place in Stockholm during the 60’s and 70’s, a time of change when the nuclear family is questioned, and perhaps on its way out. Still, our heroine discovers how difficult it can be to be without a ”husband” when everyone around you are creating their own families and coupling up.

Engagement was first published in 1976, and has been re-discovered by recent generations who can take solace in its modern themes and thinking. For the reader of Rachel Cusk or anyone who has recently fallen in love with Lucia Berlin, Gun-Britt Sundström’s Engagement is still as, or possibly even more, relevant than when it was first published. Many recognize themselves in this unromantic love story crying and laughing equally with the couple.

’Engagement is a flood of humour and a love for language, but the most important thing for me as a 19-year-old was that I could recognize myself in Martina's struggles regarding the monogamous relationship.’

Expressen ’Engagement is a landmark of Swedish literature.’

Karolina Ramqvist

Gun-Britt Sundström (b. 1945) works as an author, critic and translator. Her debut came in 1966, and she’s so far published 16 books, whereof six are children’s books. Engagement was published in 1976, and has become a modern classic. Since the 1990’s, Gun-Britt Sundström has established herself as one of Sweden’s foremost translators of children’s books and fiction. She received the Helga Prize in 2019 for her ‘linguistic sensitivity, self-distance, black humour and acuity.’

Rights sold

Chinese (simpl): Bejing Huaxia

Danish: Gads förlag

Dutch: De Geus

English (W): Penguin Modern Classics

Finnish: Tammi

Norwegian: Gyldendal Norsk

Publication

Albert Bonniers Förlag 1976 535 pages

Material Swedish Edition English Translation

Synopsis

Author Description

Film & TV Rights Not available

Contact Matilda Fogelström

matilda.fogelstrom@bonnierrights.se

bonnierrights.se | info@bonnierrights.se

AnnaTell Truth Be Told

Book 1 in the ’Hedvig Lilja’ series

From bestselling crime author Anna Tell comes a new thrilling crime series, introducing investigator Hedvig Lilja.

In the midst of a sweltering summer heat wave in Karlstad, a police officer is found murdered. He has recently been working in a major and widely questioned operation targeting wolf poaching. The executionlike nature of the murder enhances the fear spread throughout the police force. Many are starting to ask the obvious question: who will be next?

The competent and experienced investigator Hedvig Lilja, who works at NOA (Department for National Operations) in Stockholm, is asked to go to Karlstad. They need her help in what has become, to put it mildly, a tension-filled investigation. Meanwhile, we are getting to know young Elin, who is grieving her recently departed mother. She’s trying to find answers to what really happened when her father disappeared without a trace from his military service, 25 years ago.

Truth be Told is the first book in the new series which has become a bestseller in Sweden. Set in the dark forests and small towns of Värmland it’s an ideal backdrop for this new Nordic police procedural that will take your breath away.

‘Tell always takes great care to get the details right – from how you reload a weapon to how a facial expression can say more than a thousand words – and it makes every scene feel authentic.’

Göteborgsposten

‘Truth be Told is also a good mix of suspense, dark secrets and a cosy atmosphere among the investigating police officers, who drink coffee, beer, eat hamburgers and hunt for killers with the same level of enthusiasm.’

Aftonbladet

Anna Tell (b. 1975) lives in Stockholm and is a political scientist and police superintendent, who has previously worked for the Swedish Armed Forces. She has over 25 years of experience of operative work within Sweden as well as internationally. First made famous for her bestselling thriller trilogy about Amanda Lund, she is now back with a new page-turning series set in Värmland, Sweden.

Rights sold

Czech: Bourdon

Previous Publishers

Estonian: Tammerrammat (1+2)

German: Rowohlt (1+2)

Polish: Sonia Draga (1+2)

Publication

Wahlström & Widstrand May 2023 406 pages

Material Swedish Edition

English Sample Translation 77pp

Author Letter Synopsis

Synopsis Book 2 (tk)

Film & TV Rights Available

Katarina Widholm

Dearest Friends

Book 3 in the bestselling ’Betty’ series

Over 320 000 copies sold over the series so far!

The year is 1949 and Betty is turning thirty. She celebrates her birthday with her husband, children, family and friends, grateful for how lovely her life is at this very moment. The marriage with Olof is based on kindness and friendship, together they have a son named Anders. Betty works in her bookstore, runs as small publishing house, and has the main responsibility for the household. She also decides to get a driver's license.

But not everything is carefree, and soon new troubles seem to come knocking. Betty often feels inadequate as Olof begins to withdraw from their solidarity, and she cannot help but miss their intimacy. Her daughter Martina is predicted to have a brilliant future as a singer, but when her biological father Martin Fischer, Betty’s great true love, wants contact, Betty becomes deeply worried. At the same time, the financial worries starts piling up and when Betty also falls out with her best friend Viola. Nothing is the same anymore.

Dearest Friends is a story about caring greatly about love and friendship, and how easily it can be lost. It’s also a story about how true friendship can emerge, even when and where you least expect it.

This is the third book in the beloved ‘Betty’ series by Katarina Widholm. All books in the series have been on top of the bestseller lists in Sweden, and Katarina has been nominated for Book of the Year Award, Storytel Awards and Adlibris Reader’s Choice Award.

Praise for the series:

‘With perfect sensitivity, Katarina takes the reader back to Sweden in wartime, with music, films, shops, restaurants and the celebrities of the time as a backdrop. A great novel for binge reading!’

Expressen

‘Katarina Widholm has put her whole soul into trying to create a true depiction of what life could be like for young poor girls in the 1930s. As a portrayal of society, the novel gets the highest ranking, and as a feelgood novel she gets just as high marks.’

Ölandsbladet

Katarina Widholm (b.1961) lives and works in Hudiksvall and writes full time. With the ’Betty’ series, she has become a major reader’s favourite and the books have been nominated for several awards.

Rights sold

Danish: People’s Press (1-4)

Dutch: Meulenhoff Boekerij (1-4)

Finnish: Gummerus (1-4)

French: HarperCollins France (1+2)

Norwegian: Vigmostad & Björke (1+2)

Publication

Historiska Media

August 2023

408 pages

Material

Swedish Edition

Series

Description

Synopsis

Author Letter

Film & TV Rights Rights available

Åsa

Hellberg

’THE SISTERS FROM FJÄLLBACKA’ SERIES

The first and second instalment in ‘The Sisters from Fjällbacka’ trilogy, a heartfelt historical series from million-copy bestselling author who has been translated into 20 languages.

Set in the early 1900s in a changing Sweden, Åsa Hellberg builds from the history of women in her own family as a colourful backdrop to tell her story, reminiscent of Rhys Bowen’s internationally bestselling WWII novels. A shift for the author into the more intimately personal, Hellberg has found inspiration in the bunch of brave, stubborn and hysterically funny women that can be found in her own family tree.

Swedish title: INTE UTAN MIN SYSTER, ALDRIG ENSAM

Published by: Bokförlaget Forum. 2022, 2023

Rights sold: Dutch: Xander, Estonian: Varrak

Film and TV rights: Rights available

Frida Blom EVERYTHING I’VE LEARNED ABOUT GRIEF

A heart-rendering auto-fictional debut for the readers of Sheila Heti’s Motherhood about a young couple battling involuntary childlessness and losing oneself in maddening heartbreak.

Everything I’ve Learned About Grief is a fierce debut novel about involuntary childlessness, about when a life begins and ends, and the breakdown of a young marriage.

With urgency and stunning honesty, Frida Blom writes of a young couple caught in the jaws of society’s expectations and the fateful choices they have made, ultimately asking if it is possible to live with another person when you have been made into the worst version of yourself. The questions of what motherhood is and when a life begins power one of the strongest auto-fictional novels of the last few years.

Swedish titles: ALLT JAG LÄRT MIG OM SORG

Published by: Albert Bonniers Förlag, 2023

Jannete Hentati TAMING A RIVER

An essayistic memoir of one woman’s urgent search for her own roots, following the Lule River and unveiling its controversial history.

A free-spirited social anthropologist can no longer ignore the aching inside. She longs for a place to call home, to belong to something. Growing up, her family has always moved around from place to place and her rootlessness is getting to her. Determined to find the answers she’s looking for, she decides to go back in time.

An intelligent and evocative memoir, Taming a River explores the complex relationship between identity and place. Hentati writes with poetic resonance, as she invites the reader to her exploration of exile and belonging, and her journey to find a place to call home.

Swedish title: ÄLVEN I MIG

Published by: Albert Bonniers Förlag, 2023

Joanna Rubin Dranger REMEMBER US TO LIFE

Winner of the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2023! A masterpiece and future classic that picks up where Art Spiegelman’s Maus left off, in a documentary graphic novel about the pain of being alienated and cut off from one’s history.

Joanna Rubin’s unflinching and unostentatious ability to depict our existence is unique, and in Remember Us to Life her portrayal of the hardest part of life will shatter your heart and prompt new insights. The novel was published to high acclaim and has received an outstanding reception from readers and critics alike.

Swedish titles: IHÅGKOM OSS TILL LIV

Published by: Albert Bonniers Förlag, 2022

Rights sold: Albanian: Magjia e Librit, Arabic: Mahrousa, Danish: Cobolt, English: Ten Speed Press Norwegian: Spartacus, Spanish: Planeta Film and TV Rights: Rights available

Lisa dos Santos THE DEATH GAME

Get a look behind the newspaper headlines, with an insider’s account of working against organized crime, in this report from Sweden’s street gangs.

Lisa dos Santos is a prosecutor with a string of high-profile cases with gang connections, able to give an insider account of the inner workings of this new, heightened violence, and in The Death Game she describes the problems for the judicial system as laws are lagging behind technical developments, and witnesses are hard to find, or too afraid to speak out. This book gives a frank and unflinching report of the secretive Swedish underworld, while widening the understanding and dispelling myths about the problem.

Swedish title: ÄLSKADE BROR: En rapport från gängvåldets Sverige

Published by: Bokförlaget Forum, 2022

Rights sold: All rights available

Film and TV rights: Optioned

Siri Helle TRAPPED

Brené Brown meets The Power of Habit in new bestseller with over 40,000 copies sold, spending 6 weeks on the bestseller list for non-fiction.

Procrastination, anxiety, vice Many people repeatedly fall into the same emotional traps, opting for temporary relief rather than what is best in the long run. But there is a way to regain control of your feelings. Contrary to common advice on positive thinking and following your gut, the behaviour principle advises us to change how we act first, and emotions and feelings will follow.

Swedish titles: KÄNSLOFÄLLAN

Published by: Bonnier Fakta, 2022

Rights sold: English (W): Lagom, Portuguese (EU): Bertrand, Taiwanese: Infortress

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