3.5 Stars
The novel is set in Sweden in 1943 when the country’s neutrality in the war is under pressure. The story is narrated from three perspectives. Laura, a young civil servant assisting a team overseeing trade negotiations with Nazi Germany, discovers the body of Britta, her best friend from university. Britta had been tortured before being murdered. Laura sets out to find Britta’s killer. Meanwhile, Jens, the secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, receives Britta’s PhD thesis but he dismisses it since there is no explanatory letter. He is pre-occupied with concerns that his boss is secretly negotiating with the German Reich. At the same time, in Lapland in northernmost Sweden, Taneli, a young Sami boy, is searching for his sister, one of several Sami who have mysteriously disappeared. These three narratives gradually converge with the discovery of secrets which threaten the fabric of the entire country.
My knowledge about Scandinavia during World War II was scant so the preface at the beginning (“The Nordic Countries during World War II”) was very useful. It provides a context for the events in the novel. At the end of the book, the Author’s Note and Historical Background gives more information and explains which events are based on historical events and which characters are based on real individuals. It is obvious that the author did considerable research. At the beginning, there is also an extensive list of characters. The length of that list had me concerned but I found that it was not especially difficult to keep track of who is who.
The novel starts slowly but tension does gradually build. The characters face increasing danger, especially after more deaths occur and more people disappear. More than one person is keeping secrets and telling lies so there are many suspects. Distrust seeps into relationships as it becomes difficult to determine who can be trusted. Red herrings abound. Just as one story reaches a crucial stage, the focus changes to another plot line so there are a number of cliffhangers. I did guess the identity of one of the villains but was surprised at the identity of another one.
I enjoyed learning more about Sami culture. The racial bias against them has parallels to Canada’s treatment of its Indigenous peoples: “authorities suppressed the Sami culture, dismissing it as backward. . . . the Sami were deemed racially ‘less’ than the rest of the population and not capable of managing their own destiny. . . . They were not allowed to hunt and fish where their ancestors had always lived.”
The one thing that is missing is the development of relationships, especially parent-child relationships. One father calls his son “merciless” and another dismisses his daughter as “a tart”? Another father is disgusted by his daughter’s behaviour? There are backstories there that need to be developed; without them, actions are not totally credible and convincing.
Blackåsen Mountain, a brooding and menacing presence, appears in all of Ekbäck’s novels; each of the books visits the mountain in a different time period (Wolf Winter: 1717; The Midnight Sun: 1856; and The Historians: 1943). Though Blackåsen Mountain is not a real place, it is apparently based on places from Ekbäck’s childhood. Perhaps I will eventually be able to visit northern Sweden; in the meantime, The Historians provided a vicarious visit which I really enjoyed.
Sounds great. I am hoping my library has Ekback's books.
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