From one of Sweden’s most astute cultural critics, a razor-sharp comedy of the progress and ruin of the industrial welfare state, told through the story of a single family.Ragnar Johansson is born in 1932, a transformative moment in Swedish history. He has Swedish social democracy flowing through his veins—convinced it lifted humankind out of the dark ages and into modernity, he cherishes it. At times Ragnar despises his mother, Svea, whose perpetual baking, scrubbing, and canning represent the poverty of the peasantry. Ragnar, for his part, hails the efficiency of washing machines and prefab food. Once he has children himself, he raises them in accordance with his values, standing in the ski track supporting his daughter Elsa as she works hard to become one of the best skiers in the country. While Svea is a relic of the past, Elsa represents hope for the future. In time, however, Ragnar realizes that the world is changing. Is his golden age...

Winner of Sweden's most prestigious literary award, a novel about an otherwise sensible woman's descent into the obsession and delusion of unrequited love. Ester Nilsson is a sensible person in a sensible relationship. She knows what she thinks and she acts according to her principles. Until the day she is asked to give a lecture on renowned artist Hugo Rask. The man himself sits in the audience, spellbound, and when the two meet afterwards, he has the same effect on her. From then on Ester's existence is intrinsically linked to that day, and the events that follow change her life forever. Bitingly funny and darkly fascinating, WILLFUL DISREGARD is a story about total and desperate devotion and about how willingly we betray ourselves in the pursuit of love.

WINNER OF THE 2013 AUGUST PRIZE"Lena Andersson's Wilful Disregard is a story of the heart written with bracing intellectual rigor. It is a stunner, pure and simple." Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely BonesEster Nilsson is a sensible person in a sensible relationship. She knows what she thinks and she acts according to her principles. Until the day she is asked to give a lecture on renowned artist Hugo Rask. The man himself sits in the audience, spellbound, and when the two meet afterwards, he has the same effect on her. From now on Ester's existence is intrinsically linked to that day, and the chain of events that unravels will change her life forever. Bitingly funny and darkly fascinating Wilful Disregard is a story about total and desperate devotion and about how willingly we betray ourselves in the pursuit of love.PRAISE FOR WILFUL DISREGARD: A NOVEL ABOUT LOVE"This is a...

'A novel of heartbreak told with intellectual rigor. It gripped me from first page to last. Fantastic!'Alice SeboldWhen Ester Nilsson meets the actor Olof Sten, she falls madly in love.Olof makes no secret of being married, but he and Ester nevertheless start to meet regularly and begin to conduct a strange dance of courtship. Olof insists he doesn't plan to leave his wife, but he doesn't object to this new situation either . . . it's far too much fun.Ester, on the other hand, is convinced that things might change. But as their relationship continues over repeated summers of distance, and winters of heated meetings in bars, she is forced to realize the truth: Ester Nilsson has become a mistress.To read Acts of Infidelity is to dive inside the mind of a brilliant, infuriating friend - Ester's and Olof's entanglements and arguments are the stuff of relationship nightmares. Cutting, often cruel, and written with...