A Nearly Normal Family

April 8, 2019
Swedish author Edvardsson make his U.S. debut with an ambitious novel that focuses on the question: What would one do to save one’s child from the consequences of a horrible crime? Rebellious 18-year-old Stella Sandell has a violent temper and a penchant for getting into trouble, reflecting a need to defy her overprotective father, Adam, a Church of Sweden pastor in the town of Lund. When Stella is arrested for the murder of her lover, 33-year-old Christopher Olsen, a criminal law professor’s son with a checkered past, Adam and his lawyer wife, Ulrika, go to great lengths to help their troubled daughter. Edvardsson uses first-person narratives from Adam, Stella, and Ulrika to tell the story of the family, the crime, and the trial. This structure adds complexity and ambiguity, but the three different versions of the events result in too much repetition, dampening the suspense and weakening the denouement. This novel works better as a domestic drama than as a mystery. Agent: Astri Ahlander, Ahlander Agency (Sweden).

April 15, 2019
In Swedish author Edvardsson's U.S debut, a family is shattered by a heinous crime. Adam is a well-respected pastor, and his wife, Ulrika, is a defense attorney. Their daughter, Stella, has just turned 18 and is planning a trip to Asia. From the outside, the Sandells are the perfect family, but that facade crumbles when Stella is arrested for the brutal stabbing of 32-year-old Christopher Olsen at a playground. On the night of the murder, Adam finds Stella's shirt covered in dark stains; he will do anything to keep his daughter out of prison, including providing a false alibi, but his decision contradicts his faith and shakes him to his core. The story is told in three parts, from the viewpoints of Adam, Stella, and Ulrika. Adam presents Stella as a troubled child and out-of-control teen. Stella reveals that much of her acting out stemmed from her desire to control her own life, her father's overprotectiveness, and her mother's perceived coldness. Further, Adam and Ulrika's failure to report a sexual assault on Stella by a trusted camp director when Stella was 15 created a permanent fissure in the family. Stella's whirlwind affair with the wealthy and attentive Chris is complicated by his ex-girlfriend, who tells Stella he's abusive. The romance eventually spins out of control, but could Stella be a killer? Much of Ulrika's narrative is spent in the courtroom during Stella's murder trial, which may lead some readers to feel like she got short shrift. In between flashes of courtroom drama, Ulrika contemplates her marriage, motherhood, and her alienation in the face of what she felt was an impenetrable relationship between Adam and Stella. The murder mystery falls a bit flat and the resolution is overly neat, but Edvardsson ably weaves themes of parental guilt and sacrifice into a nuanced family drama. Not terribly suspenseful, but as a dissection of a family in crisis, it works.

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May 1, 2019
Swedish couple Adam and Ulrika are awakened by their teenage daughter, Stella, sobbing inconsolably at their bedside. Ulrika finally calms her down and assures Adam not to worry. The next morning, however, Adam finds Stella's bloodstained shirt in the laundry. Then, incomprehensibly, Adam and Ulrika are notified that detectives are questioning Stella about a murder. Christopher Olsen, a real-estate developer, has been killed, and his neighbor claims to have seen Stella there just before she heard Olsen's screams. As Adam and Ulrika struggle to work out Stella's connection to Olsen, protective instincts reign. The bloodied shirt and Stella's phone disappear, and Adam finds himself providing a false alibi. Then, after Stella's best friend disputes Stella's story, and police discover evidence of a volatile secret relationship between Olsen and Stella, Stella is charged with murder. As the trial looms, Adam deteriorates into rage, Ulrika guards secrets, and Stella slowly reveals the storm of manipulation, repressed trauma, and fierce loyalty that led to Olsen's death. An intense legal thriller that successfully plays realistic, gripping emotion against a shocking legal twist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)