Andromeda

November 1, 2024
A young woman's platonic but passionate relationship with her mentor affords her insight into both the past and her own possible futures. When we meet the main narrator of this languid novel of ideas, she's a young woman fulfilling an unpaid internship at Ryd�ns, a prestigious publishing house in Stockholm. A woman from a stolid middle-class Swedish family whose parents "dutifully went off to work without any particular career ambitions," the narrator is overwhelmed by her own inexperience. She has to learn "from scratch: what to wear, how to use the printer and the photocopier..." Also, how to navigate the standard interpersonal politics of any office, which, in this particularly heady profession, also include entrenched positions on the nature of art, the function of publishing, and the ideology of commerce, as Ryd�ns struggles to place itself at the forefront of modern Swedish culture while still maintaining the prestige of a past steeped in traditional publishing values. Introverted and serious in nature, the narrator feels more kinship with literature of "genuine purpose" than she does with the sort of books her contemporaries are more likely to champion--easily marketable novels with "a clear message" but written in "dull prose, lying heavy and dead on every single page...as if the authors had followed a template for significant depictions of contemporary society." The narrator's iconoclasm soon catches the eye of Gunnar, Ryd�ns powerful editor-in-chief, whose own sensibilities are a reliquary of a rapidly vanishing age. Gunnar takes the narrator under his wing, grooming her to take over his position running Andromeda, the avant-garde imprint he founded. Over the next many years, the two form an enduring bond, centered around their love for ideas and the glimmering impossibility of something more they both feel developing between them. But when Gunnar's ill health forces him into retirement, the narrator is left alone to examine the true nature of their relationship, of her identity within the systems she has helped to preserve, and of the art she celebrates. A confident, erudite novel, comfortable with developing at its own pace, Bohman's latest adds to her growing cavalcade of young women with old, enduring ideals. Deeply provocative in its quiet contemplation.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2024
Sofie, a young intern at a publishing company, has a chance encounter with Gunnar, her boss. He is in his sixties, nearly twice her age, but despite this, Sofie sees something in him that calls to her, and after a colleague leaves for an extended vacation, Gunnar has Sofie take over her job. It results in her spending years at the company. But when Gunnar dies of heart issues, her world is torn apart. Half of the book is written from Sofie's perspective, and the other half from Gunnar's; what the reader thinks might be a tawdry tale about an inappropriate office relationship becomes something much more. It is a beautifully written book about a publishing company undergoing massive changes, a questionable and yet somehow aching relationship between an intern and her boss, nostalgia, the feeling of being left behind, and the ideals we cling to when everything is falling apart around us. Translated from Swedish, Andromeda is what Gunnar might call a breath of fresh air in the literary world.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 25, 2024
This tender outing from Bohman (Drowned) chronicles the yearslong platonic relationship between two editors at a Stockholm publishing house. It begins in 2009, when Sofie Andersson is about to finish her internship at Rydén’s. Though usually quiet around her coworkers, she makes an offhand critical comment about a book on Rydén’s list to editor-in-chief Gunnar Abrahamsson, earning his respect, and he sets her on the unexpected path of becoming an editor herself. Their mentor-mentee relationship is one of mutual understanding; they bond over their appreciation for the books published under an erstwhile imprint that Gunnar started years ago, and the fact that they both value craft over commerce. After Sofie becomes an editor, she meets with Gunnar for drinks twice a month, and though their relationship never turns physical, the intimacy the two share increases over the years. Gunnar’s declining health leads to his retirement, and his negative attitude about the company after he leaves drives a wedge between the two. The subtly gorgeous prose highlights the affection between two like-minded individuals, both of whom are trying to preserve what they value the most. This is perfect for devouring in a single afternoon. Agent: Judith Toth, Nordin Agency.