January 1, 2021
At nearly 50, renowned Manhattan photographer Elin Boals is at the top of her game, but a mysterious letter threatens to splinter her life. The letter isn't even a letter, really. It's a star chart sent from her childhood best friend, Fredrik, whom she hasn't seen since she abruptly left Sweden at 13. After all these years, why would he have bought her a star? More importantly, why does the chart inspire Elin to run a search, querying the statute of limitations for homicide in Sweden? As Elin reminisces, she's already impossibly late for yet another family dinner--even her daughter Alice's acceptance to dance school can't entice Elin from her work. Her husband, Sam, is about ready to divorce her. Yet even as Sam and Alice plead for her attention, Elin drifts further away, and this time her work suffers, too, as Elin begins to forget who, when, and where she's shooting her next gig. Lundberg alternates short chapters between Elin's present and past lives, but what ought to build tension toward the revelation of why Elin left home--not to mention why she's kept her childhood secret from Sam and Alice and who might have committed homicide--falls flat. Elin's personality is so sweet and her childhood story so like a fairy tale that it's hard to see even abusers as villains. Moreover, the star chart never seems to turn into a real clue. Indeed, few clues point to the actual disaster that drove Elin away. Consequently, when it does arrive, the climactic moment seems like it comes from another novel. Nonetheless, Lundberg does deftly spin the tale of Alice and Elin's reconciliation, as Elin decides to tell her daughter everything. Together they travel to Sweden, heading back into Elin's past, ready to face the truth. A warmhearted portrayal of family and forgiveness with some loose threads.
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January 18, 2021
In this tense outing, Lundberg (The Red Address Book) follows photographer Elin as she attempts to come to grips with the course of her life. Elin, her husband Sam, and her teenage daughter, Alice, live in luxury in Manhattan, but Elin’s childhood in Sweden, where her family often didn’t have enough money for milk, was a different story. Now, Elin is unsatisfied in her career, faces trouble with her marriage because Sam feels shut out by her, and is disconnected from her daughter. After receiving a star chart and a mysterious note in Swedish reading “On this day, a star was named Elin,” Elin eventually determines the missive came from Fredrik, a friend from school. As the novel continues, Lundberg gradually reveals the complexity of Elin and Fredrik’s bond and the entwined relationship of their families, as they become stepsiblings, and Elin’s mysterious Google search for “Statute of limitations homicide Sweden” takes on startling connotation after a surprise plot twist. The author succeeds at painting a picture of Elin and Fredrik’s intersecting families, as Elin grapples with the decisions she made for self-preservation. Readers will soak up the suspense as they search for the truth alongside Elin up until the end.
February 15, 2021
The latest translation of Swedish author Lundberg's work focuses on Elin, a model-turned-fashion-photographer whose unresolved trauma echoes through her adult life. Her marriage is crumbling, and her relationship with her teenage daughter is tense. When she receives a letter from a childhood friend, haunting memories return to the surface, further threatening the life she has carefully built. Raised with her two younger brothers by an overwhelmed single mother, Elin's only comforts are Fredrik, her best friend; Aina, a kindhearted neighbor; and Gerd, a kindly shop owner. The family struggles with poverty until a surprise inheritance provides a sudden windfall, but money doesn't improve Elin's situation. As a teenager, Elin flees her home in search of a fresh start, but, as an adult, she learns that forgiveness is the only way she can be free. Elin is a complex character with a compelling story, and Lundberg avoids the obvious resolutions that readers may expect in favor of a deeper exploration of the meaning of love, forgiveness, and family. This satisfying novel will appeal to fans of Lisa Duffy and Patti Callahan Henry.
COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
March 1, 2021
On the outside, Elin Boals has the perfect life. After escaping a childhood of poverty in Sweden, she forged a career as a successful and sought-after photographer living in New York City, and built a loving family. But all is not as it appears. Elin's career doesn't fulfill her anymore; her husband, Sam, is fed up with her never being present physically or emotionally; and she and her teenage daughter, Alice, are usually at odds about one thing or another. She has also kept monumental secrets about her past from Sam and Alice. When she receives a mysterious piece of mail, memories both good and bad from her life in Sweden come roaring back, further threatening her strained work and family situations, as well as her psychological well-being. VERDICT Lundberg's sophomore work (after The Red Address Book) deftly and sensitively tells Elin's past and present life stories in the ever-popular alternating chapter format. She builds Elin's story slowly, but once the OMG moment hits, readers will turn the pages as if they are burning. For fans of narratives about conflicted and tormented heroines trying to make peace with their pasts.--Samantha Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY
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