Stockholm 3 ― Remember the City

Per Anders Fogelstrom's Stockholm Series is a quintet of novels about the intertwined stories of a city and of a family; this third volume, Remember the City, focuses on the experiences and diverging destinies of the children of Henning Nilsson. The book tells the continuing tale of the growth in the underclass of nineteenth-century Stockholm into a modern European metropolis. Set between the years of 1900 and 1925, the novel contains a plethora of characters and their personal stories and struggles through difficult times. The research behind and within Fogelstrom's series is prodigiously detailed: he gives us meticulous descriptions of landscapes, weather, rooms, streets, factories, cafes, bars, and emerging landmarks; he knows and understands the historical events, issues, and politics of the period. Readers experience the difficulties of the time through characters such as Emelie, an aging and single woman who feels obligated to take on too many responsibilities, Jenny, a young widow seeking to live out her dream of being a dancer, August, a wealthy building contractor struggling with the consequences of a possible illegitimate son, Barta, a drunk who has ruined herself with the drink, and the stories of Barta's children as they grow up in a troubled world. Remember the City particularly identifies with the youth of the period and their political involvement.A new era dawns as modernization takes hold of the city and its occupants. Fogelstrom tells his stories without contrivance; when there are life-changing events, they erupt into a context of daily life that he conveys no less compellingly. He can show us the clothes his characters are wearing, tell us how these people smell, describe the effect of alcohol and toil on their bodies. Most of all, he understands their values, their ideals, their emotions, their human integrity; he admires their enduring strengths, and views their weaknesses with compassion. Jennifer Brown Baverstams skillful translation is at once transparent and rooted, like its source. The author, Per Anders Fogelstrom, is one of the most widely read authors in Sweden today.