Drowned [Paperback]

Therese Bohman (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 22, 2012

Drowned, set in the idyllic countryside during a short-lived Swedish summer, gets under one’s skin from the first page, creating an atmosphere of foreboding in which even the perfume of freshly picked vegetables roasting in the kitchen becomes ominous.
   On the surface, the story couldn’t be simpler. A single young woman visits her older sister, who is married to a writer as charismatic as he is violent. As the young woman falls under her brother-in-law’s spell, the plot unfolds in a series of precisely rendered turns. Meanwhile the reader, anticipating the worst, hopes against hope that disaster can be averted.
   More than a mere thriller, this debut novel delves deep into the feminine soul and at the same time exposes the continuing oppression of women in Sweden’s supposedly enlightened society. Mixing hothouse sensuality with ice-cold fear on every page, Drowned heralds the emergence of a major new talent on the international scene.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A slim novel with a taut narrative line and a sense of impending disaster....A tale of identity and tense personal relationships, one that as a film property would have appealed to Hitchcock or de Palma." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The seasonal and structural changes are deliberately understated and carry emotional weight into the climax, which Bohman deftly makes both foregone and suspenseful, leaving the reader wondering if everyone was doomed from the start.” —Publisher’s Weekly

“A horrifyingly compelling psychological thriller set in modern-day Sweden…Bohman manages to flesh out characters, setting, and plot in just over 200 pages, a feat that makes for a highly engaging and fast-paced read, yet one with great depth.” —Booklist

“[Bohman] writes with simplicity and restrain, and each detail adds to the slowly building tension…This is an artful psychological thriller, and utterly riveting, as it delves into the dark side of lust, sex and obsession.” —Herald Sun (Australia)

“Therese Bohman’s Drowned is a flawless story written in razor sharp prose, and is extremely hard to put down.” –Coffin Factory

“Drowned puts both its protagonist and its reader on edge almost from the beginning and never really allows either to become settled or comfortable. It's an effective, suspenseful psychological mystery.” –Shelf Awareness

“Action is absent, as are bold, aggressive female heroes. No politics, at least overtly, either. Just a wholly controlled, absorbing account of inexplicable female passivity in the 21st century, a condition that seems to affect certain twenty-somethings of Sweden as much as it does those in New York, if the TV show Girls is any indication…The translation, by Marlaine Delargy, is supple and effective and frequently mesmerizing.” –Reviewing the Evidence

“Most thrillers conclude by exposing a killer. Drowned, on the other hand, ends with a larger, more upsetting truth: how we expose ourselves…Author Therese Bohman could be lumped in with the other Scandinavian authors who have taken over the mystery world since The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but her story is more quiet and nuanced, her writing lush enough to create a landscape painting with every scene. No shoot-outs, showdowns or explosions end this story, but be prepared to gasp all the same, not with fear, but with understanding.” –Oprah

About the Author

Therese Bohman is an editor of the magazine Axess and a columnist for Expressen and Tidningen Vi, writing about literature, art, culture, and fashion. She lives in Sweden.
 
Marlaine Delargy has translated novels by Åsa Larsson and Johan Theorin, as well as The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (Other Press), and serves on the editorial board of the Swedish Book Review. She lives in England.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Other Press; Tra edition (May 22, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590515242
• ISBN-13: 978-1590515242
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.7 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Therese Bohman is an editor of the magazine Axess and a columnist for Expressen and Tidningen Vi, writing about literature, art, culture, and fashion. She lives in Sweden.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Well-written but frustrating May 25, 2012

By TChris TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

I'm amazed to find a work of Scandinavian fiction in which the characters aren't endlessly complaining about how depressed they become during the long, frigid winters. In the first half of Drowned, the characters complain about how depressed they have become during the unusually hot summer. Part two takes place in the fall and the characters complain that the rain and rotting leaves have created "a state of torpor." It seems that an unremitting feeling of depression is a consistent feature of Scandinavian fiction, no matter what the season might be.

Marina, an art history student in Stockholm, takes a train to the country to visit her sister Stella, who is living with an older man, a novelist named Gabriel. Unsurprisingly, something develops between Marina and Gabriel. Much of the story (written in the first person from Marina's perspective) takes place inside Marina's head as she ponders the meaning behind the brief kiss Gabriel gave her, her life-long jealousy and resentment of Stella, and her relationship with her absent boyfriend. One external event becomes significant: a burn mark on Stella's inner thigh that she can't adequately explain.

Things have changed by November, including Marina's relationship with Gabriel, when the novel's second half opens with Marina's return to the country. I won't reveal the plot-altering event that leads to the second visit for the sake of not spoiling it, although it is something the reader will probably anticipate long before it happens. Mild tension develops as the reader wonders how that event came to pass.

Some of its promotional blurbs describe Drowned as a thriller. Readers who come to the novel expecting it to thrill are likely to be disappointed. Nothing mysterious -- or even eventful -- happens until the story's last quarter. All of the action (and there isn't much) is crowded into the final pages. Even then, the story is more strange than suspenseful. The ending leaves many questions unanswered, and while that isn't always a bad thing, in this case I think too much is left open. The story seems incomplete.

Drowned is not for readers who only enjoy plot-driven, energetic novels. The tone is hushed, the pace is languid, and the content is based on thought rather than action. Therese Bohman's focus is on the creation of character rather than the tension that usually defines a thriller. Of course, the character Bohman develops is Marina, so when Gabriel, late in the novel, becomes more significant to the plot, it seems that we're meeting him for the first time. Gabriel's actions seem out of character but only because he was such a hollow character for most of the novel. If Bohman intended to create a sense of foreboding (and I think she did), she waited too long to do it.

Bohman has a nice eye for descriptive detail but she doesn't go overboard. Although she often seems on the verge of writing run-on sentences and is addicted to comma splices -- a writing style I generally disfavor -- Bohman makes it work. The sentences hurry forward, creating the illusion of urgency even when nothing much is happening. References to art and poetry pop up with some frequency; at least some of those have an allegorical relationship to Bohman's story. All of that kept me reading but, in the end, it isn't enough to make the novel succeed. Although there are many aspects of Drowned that I appreciated, it ultimately left me frustrated, in a state of torpor. If I could, I would give Drowned 3 1/2 stars.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars an over-hyped novel June 10, 2012

By K. Kennedy

Format:Paperback

I picked up this novel after reading rather glowing reviews in the Swedish Book Review and Publishers Weekly. I have to say that I do not see the hype as being justified. Aside from a lyrical descriptive slant used to good effect at times by the author, I did not really like the novel. The story was predictable, and I saw no sign of the suspense or multi-layered plot that the reviews described. There are plenty of good novels out there...I recommend reading one of them instead.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Such promise, then fell short! June 8, 2012

By Lily & Erin

Format:Kindle Edition

** SPOILER ALERT **

I want to warn you all ahead of time. There will be lots of spoilers in this review, so be forewarned... I try never to include spoilers in my reviews, but in order to really express why I feel the way I do about this novel, I will have to be fairly detailed.

For those of you that decided to proceed ahead:

I am so conflicted with this novel. As I began this story I thought that this would be an easy 4 star review. I was gripped from the beginning. It started out mellow, and really interesting. The relationship between these two sisters was terribly awkward and perplexing, and once I realized that there was a connection between Marina and her sister's husband, I rubbed my hands in anticipation and thought, "Here we go! Dramarama!!!"

And yes, I got some drama. Marina has a quickie affair with her bro-in-law which I expected. What I didn't expect was the lack of emotion surrounding it. I figure that someone who just slept with her sister's husband would feel somewhat guilty and even more awkward around her sister, and yet, the story continued on uneventfully. There were some very subtle hints that there was something dark surrounding Gabriel, but with the exception of a couple of swear words and outbursts... it was really anti climatic, and uneventful.

Second part of this novel - where it falls apart for me.

Marina returns to her sister's house after a few months after her sister's drowning to pack up and organize her things? I am never really sure if that is her purpose for returning as she then apparently states she is now living there with Gabriel to the neighbors.

She ping pongs through falling for Gabriel again, liquifying at the mere touch of his hands, to suspecting foul play in her sister's 'accidental' death. But with the exception of seeing his eyes 'change' and a tone to his voice,once again, it's pretty uneventful. Another outburst here and there, but from the outside looking in, I didn't really relate to how she would see him as a homicidal maniac and run through the house and lock her door, to then the next day, letting him get under her skirt.

At the end, there is a scene that is abusive, and his real nature is finally confirmed but it took the entire book to get there. And then it abruptly ends.

So... what happens to Marina. Is that dim wit going to stick around and be his next puppet? Furthermore... what the heck happened to her sister?? There is always a mere suspicion that things were not as they seemed with her death, and yet, that too goes completely unresolved in any way.

It was a well written novel in the technical sense. I could not put this down and ripped through it, but honestly, it was to look for answers that never came.

'Mixing hothouse sensuality with ice-cold fear on every page...' Well there was some 'sensuality' in this novel. Ice-cold fear on every page? .... Not at all. More like frustration on every page while I anticipated something explosive out of all that tension that continuously built up... and it just ended in disappointment.