Karin Alvtegen; translated by McKinley Burnett
Shadow by Karin Alvtegen, translated from the Swedish by McKinley Burnett, is a gripping, page-turning mystery in which the crime is not revealed until late in the novel. The novel grapples with the following questions: How far are you willing to go to preserve your humanity? How far are you willing to go to protect what is yours? What price are you willing to pay to retain public acclaim? The answers are shocking.
The setting is Stockholm. A four-year-old boy is abandoned in an amusement park. He carries a note: “Take care of this child. Forgive me.” No explanation is given.
After that cryptic opening, the narrative jumps forward three decades. Marianne Folkesson, a social worker, is tasked with sorting the belongings of the recently deceased ninety-two-year-old Gerda Persson. Marianne searches for names of relatives and friends to notify them of the death. She finds books stacked in the freezer by the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Axel Ragnerfeldt. The books have personal hand-written dedications to Gerda, signed by the author. A place to start, she thinks, and begins her enquiries.
Marianne learns Gerda was the long-time housekeeper of the Ragnerfeldt family. She later learns Gerda has named a Kristoffer Sandeblom as her sole beneficiary. But when contacted by Marianne, Kristoffer claims he has never heard of Gerda Persson and has no idea why he is named in her will. Kristoffer conducts his own investigation in an effort to solve a mystery plaguing him all his life. Who is he? Who are his parents? And why did his mother abandon him at an amusement park when he was four years old? The mystery thickens.
Alvtegen’s characters are realistically drawn, distinct, and well-crafted. The surviving members of the Ragnerfeldt family are an unsavory bunch. Axel’s middle-aged son is a philandering alcoholic. His mother is cold-hearted, self-absorbed, and arrogant. His long-suffering wife is miserable in her marriage. Except for Marianne, all the characters are haunted by personal demons which are revealed through their flashbacks and interiority.
An abandoned four-year-old boy, a Nobel Prize winner and his family, the death of their nine-two-year-old housekeeper thirty-five years later. These are seemingly disparate threads. Alvtegen develops each thread along parallel lines, moving back and forth in time, and alternating between threads. Eventually, all the threads converge. The connection is unveiled. A series of lies, deceptions, thefts, and infidelities are revealed, culminating in a horrendous crime buried for thirty-five years.
Alvtegen skillfully builds the suspense, layer upon layer, with the narrative taking many unexpected twists and turns. She delves into back stories and drops clues until the pieces gradually fall into place to reveal the full extent of the horror. She adroitly explores the long-term impact of crimes, of decisions rippling with lasting repercussions, and of childhood trauma. She clothes it in a spell-binding, dark mystery that keeps one guessing until the very end.
Highly recommended.