Eventide

February 15, 2018

Crossing the proverbial bridge into midlife sometimes brings a time of self-assessment, of looking at where one has been and what might lie ahead. In this latest from Bohman (Drowned), 40-year-old Karolina enjoys a prominent career as a professor of art history. Her personal life, however, is none too satisfactory: she is freshly out of a long-term relationship, has no social network, and makes questionable choices in terms of casual sex. Graduate student Anton brings a spark of interest, but he seems unpredictable. In need of a diversion, Karolina becomes invested in arcane concepts such as representations of bestiality in art and literature, to no avail. Her overall dilemma is a common one: Should she seek out an average domestic life, focus on her career, or both? As if under a perennially cloudy gray sky, she remains frustratingly paralyzed until a simple act of courage helps her to envision a patch of sunlight. VERDICT While readers who are familiar with Stockholm may enjoy images of the city, Karolina's path to claiming a bit of her own power is arduous and not quite satisfying.--Susanne Wells, Indianapolis P.L.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 11, 2018
Bohman’s moving third novel (following The Other Woman) immerses the reader in the life of 40-something Karolina Andersson, an art professor at the University of Stockholm. Single for the first time in 11 years, she begins middle age with the task of moving to a smaller apartment. As her semester begins, she finally meets her elusive PhD advisee, Anton, who has been in Germany researching Ebba Ellis, an obscure Swedish artist. At first she finds him entitled and annoying, but as she learns more about his childhood with a single mother struggling to make ends meet, she grows compassionate toward him and more interested in his work on Ellis, which promises to be revelatory. Karolina’s interest in Anton blooms into sexual desire, but this new excitement distracts her from suspicious elements of his work. When she at last begins to investigate these inconsistencies, she finds that those who seem too good to be true often are. This psychologically rich journey provides insight into an intelligent, successful woman who burns with needs she fears she can’t fulfill.