Exploring Sweden: 10 books from the home of Pippi longstocking

A list of books to read from Sweden

This is the great Swedish classic, bringing readers to rural Värmland in the early 19th century. Gösta Berling is a rebellious former minister who is dismissed from his post due to his excessive drinking. He ends up at Ekeby, an estate inhabited by a group of eccentric and colorful characters, and becomes entangled in various adventures and misadventures.

In 1909, Selma Lagerlöf became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and The Saga of Gösta Berling is her first and best-loved novel. It has been called the Swedish Gone With the Wind, and itwas the basis for the 1924 silent film of the same name that launched Greta Garbo into stardom.

When Hillevi, a young, inexperienced midwife, moves from the university town of Uppsala to the wilderness of Svartvattnet (Blackwater) to be with her unofficial fiancé, she is ill prepared for what awaits her. In this frigid and isolated territory, she encounters the overwhelming forces of nature, the demoralizing poverty and ignorance, and the unfamiliar world of nomadic Sami reindeer herders. A single traumatic event, never fully confronted, has devastating repercussions, but Hillevi also finds unexpected warmth and love.

This is the first book of a trilogy, and be warned, because God’s Mercy is a thoroughly engrossing story, and you will want to read them all!

Harriet Vanger disappeared over forty years ago, and all these years later, her aged uncle hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. A genius computer hacker, she tolerates no restrictions placed upon her by individuals, society or the law. But she too has a mysterious past, and someone else wants the past to remain a secret and will go to any lengths to keep it that way.

This was an international bestseller, and have already been adapted into film twice. If you ever want to read just one Scandinavian crime mystery, let it be this one. And again, I warn you, because you will want to read the whole series!

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy—as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers-crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal. When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins! It is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.

I could honestly have mentioned any one of Fredrik Backman’s novels here, because I have devoured and adored every single one of them. Maybe you know A man called Ove? But the special magic of Elsa’s world still remains my favourite.

Sitting quietly in his room in an old people’s home, Allan Karlsson is waiting for his one-hundredth birthday party to begin. 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, Allan makes his getaway. And so begins a hilarious and totally unexpected journey involving a suitcase full of cash, a very friendly hot-dog stand operator, a few thugs, a few deaths, an elephant and some very incompetent police. As the story unfolds, Allan’s earlier life is revealed, and it turns out that not only did he witness some of the most important events of the 20th century, he actually played a key role in them! Jonas Johansson’s novel is a quirky and utterly unique adventure, that has already charmed readers across the world.

From the larger than life adventure of the hundred year old man, we move on to a very small, quiet and tender story of the unlikely friendship between two women. Veronica, a writer in her thirties, whose boyfriend just drowned in New Zealand, rents a house in a small Swedish village next door to Astrid who is 81. As the two women grow closer, they slowly and carefully reveal their life histories and sometimes heart wrenching pasts.

I love this book with all my heart. It has the kind of lyrical prose that will have you staring into space for minutes just savouring the beauty of it. Linda Olsson is a Swedish-born novelist who lives in New Zealand and writes in both English and Swedish. Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs, was an international best seller, has been translated into 15 languages.

Returning to her hometown of Fjallbacka after the funeral of her parents, writer Erica Falck finds a community on the brink of tragedy. The death of her childhood friend, Alex, is just the beginning. Her wrists slashed, her body frozen in an ice-cold bath, it seems that she has taken her own life. Local detective Patrik Hedstrom is following his own suspicions about the case. But it is only when they start working together that the truth begins to emerge about a small town with a deeply disturbing past.

Camilla Läckberg is arguably the queen of Nordic Noir and one of the world’s most popular crime authors. The Ice Princess is the first book in the hugely popular Fjällbacka Series.

For a lesser known perspective, you could go for a story set in Sweden’s northernmost areas of Lapland amidst the indigenous people of the Sámi culture. Stolen is the story of a young woman struggling to defend her family’s reindeer herd and culture amidst xenophobia and climate change. And fighting against a devious hunter, whose targeted kills of the reindeer are classified as mere theft in all the reports, that continue to pile up at the local Police office, uninvestigated.

Ann-Helén Laestadius’s award-winning novel is based on real events. It is part coming-of-age story, part love song to a disappearing natural world, and part crime mystery. An interesting view into of a part of Sweden, that do not often get a voice in literature.

I aim to include speculative fiction (science fiction, dystopia, fantasy) in my lists, as this genre is a personal favorite of mine. And for a chilling Swedish take on the future, my eyes fell on this one:

In this vision of the future, women over the age of fifty and men over sixty – single, childless, and without jobs in progressive industries – are expected to contribute themselves for drug and psychological testing, and ultimately donate their organs, little by little, until the final donation. Dorrit finds herself living under very pleasant conditions: well-housed, well-fed, and well-attended. She is resigned to her fate and discovers her days there to be rather consoling and peaceful. But when she meets a man inside the Unit and falls in love, life suddenly turns unbearable. Dorrit is faced with compliance or escape, and… well, then what?

On the night Ronia was born, a thunderstorm raged, and a lightning strike split the mountain of the Robber’s castle in two … When the Robber King’s daughter Ronia meets Birk, the son of her father’s arch rival, her life will never be the same. Can she go against all she has ever known? Set in a delightfully fantastical forest teaming with all kinds of magical (and dangerous!) creatures, this childhood favorite of mine is a wonderful exploration of the ever relevant themes of courage, family, friendship and love.

Just like you can’t do a list of books from Denmark without H.C. Andersen, I just could not leave out Astrid Lindgren for this one. I grew up with Pippi, Emil, Mio, Brothers Lionheart and the Children of Noisy Village, and I could have picked any one of them for this list. But forced to pick a favorite I have to go with Ronia. And yes, you can absolutely read and love this as an adult (or read it aloud to your kids if you really need an excuse).