The Former World
Barbara Sjoholm sets her novels The Former World and its prequel Fossil Island in the Denmark of the 1880s, a very traditional society suddenly beginning to confront the growing changes of the modern world.
“Now sixteen, Nik resumes her relationship with the passionate musician Carl Nielsen, who returns once more for a summer visit to her provincial village. Maj finds a teaching job, but her mother hasn’t given up the idea her eldest daughter will marry and forget about her close friend Eva Sandström. Taking place over the course of two dramatic years, the sisters’ lives will be utterly changed by love, heartbreak, illness, and death. A vivid portrait of two stubborn daughters who love their family, but yearn for freedom on their own terms.”
These are thoughtful, glitteringly intelligent novels, as shrewd about shifting social conditions as they are about the workings of the human heart. Either book can be read and enjoyed separately, and together they form a treat readers will re-read with pleasure.
Very strongly recommended.
