Witches' Rings (Series B (Norvik Press)) [Paperback]

Kerstin Ekman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Series B (Norvik Press) | Publication Date: November 15, 1997

The first of a tetralogy by the well-known Swedish author of Blackwater. Set in a Swedish village about to enter the modern age, the story begins in the 1870s, as an excited and suspicious citizenry await the first train to arrive at their newly constructed station. We're introduced gradually to a town full of hardy and endearingly eccentric souls, who are instantly brought to life and involved in the story's several ongoing actions. We see Ekman's characters join, part, recombine, and change as years pass; trains begin to appear routinely, and the new century proves no more inclined than the old to free common people from their repetitive rounds (""witches' rings"") of toil and discouragement. ""Bleak, ribald, and unfailingly honest: a fine novel that honors, as it emulates, the tradition of village fiction created by such earlier Scandinavian masters as Selma Lagerlof and Knut Hamsun. It's wonderful stuff.""-Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

An early (1974) novel, the first of a tetralogy, by the well- known Swedish author of Blackwater (1996) and other fiction not yet translated. Set in a Swedish village about to enter the modern age, the story begins in the 1870s, as an excited and suspicious citizenry await the first train to arrive at their newly constructed station. We're introduced gradually to a townful of hardy and endearingly eccentric souls, including forthright, contentious Sara Sabina Lans (``the soldier's missus''); restaurant owner Alma Winl”f and her cagey lover, engineer Alexander Lindh; stationmaster Fredriksson and his beloved dog Mulle; tavernkeeper Tubby Kalle and the suavely sex-crazed Baron Cederfalk. These and many others are instantly brought to life and involved in the story's several ongoing actions. Girls are seduced and abandoned, or shackled in unfulfilling marriages. A dead man with a Communion wafer in his mouth is found just outside town. Workers in the social democratic movement form a guild and challenge their heartless employers. We see Ekman's characters join, part, recombine, and change as years pass; trains begin to appear routinely, and the new century proves no more inclined than the old to free common people from their repetitive rounds (``witches' rings'') of toil and discouragement. The focal point is Tora Lans, granddaughter of the aforementioned Sara Sabina, who grows up, motherless, into a weary, unillusioned woman whose intimate acquaintance with the rituals of work, childbirth, marriage, and death develops her grimly comic perspective on the world and on herself (``. . . a body was just a body. It sweated and dripped and bled and swelled''). Bleak, ribald, and unfailingly honest: a fine novel that honors, as it emulates, the tradition of village fiction created by such earlier Scandinavian masters as Selma Lagerl”f and Knut Hamsun. It's wonderful stuff. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 358 pages
• Publisher: Norvik Pr; 1st Engl Lang edition (November 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1870041364
• ISBN-13: 978-1870041362
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,567,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witches' rings not fairy rings, June 19, 2000

By 

Linda Schenck, Artful AB - See all my reviews

This review is from: Witches' Rings (Series B (Norvik Press)) (Paperback)

Just a note from the translator in reaction to the published customer review -- the "witches' rings" of the title are rings trampled in the grass by mating deer, and allude to the way people spend their lives running around in circles, unsure of what they want or how to obtain it, as the character who sees them observes that the deer are doing.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, October 25, 1999

By 

L Schmitt (Cottage Grove, Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Witches' Rings (Series B (Norvik Press)) (Paperback)

There is no disputing Kerstin Ekman's reputation as an author of note. I am happy to see Witches' Rings available in English. On the whole, I appreciate Linda Schenk's translation, although, there are times when I did wonder whether Ms. Schenk understood what it was that she was translating. (The "witches' rings" of the title are what I always understood to be "fairy rings" those circles if mushrooms one should not cross.)

This novel is set in a rural area - not even yet a town - transformed into a city by the railroad in 1870. Ekman ably captures the dizzying transformations of Swedish rural life in the 19th century. The novel at first seems awkward, and disjointed, but like a steam locomotive it gradually builds speed and momentum until at the end the "ticking clock" accelerates the final scenes. The book describes the nearly forty years of the lives of the Edla and her daughter Tora. Tora is a tough survivor who does not cry, because she is saving her tears for the time when she really needs them. When finally she does cry, we do not know whether she is crying for the dead or for herself and for those of us who survive in this modern world where the clock is always ticking.

Americans with Swedish ancestry will find this novel explains a great deal about the circumstances that brought their families to consider migration.

It's almost too easy to compare Ekman with Lagerlöf. Both have written tellingly about nineteenth century Swedish life. Certainly, this book brings into plain view what is found between the lines in Lagerlöf's writing.