Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a French writer, originally from Provence, who found herself catapulted into Scandinavian culture almost twenty years ago when I married a Swede. When I wrote Block 46, my first book back in 2015, I set the plot in Falkenberg, a town on the west coast of Sweden, bringing my southern European culture face to face with the Scandinavian one, a kind of alliance between fire and ice. What I'm sharing with you today is the essence of my “empirical research” as a Swedish wife, an expatriate in Sweden, and a mother of three mini-Vikings, giving you the keys and the secrets of this northern culture that fascinates so much.


I wrote

Book cover of Yule Island

What is my book about?

Art expert Emma Lindahl is anxious when she's asked to appraise the antiques and artefacts in the infamous manor house


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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Book of Lagom: The Swedish Way of Living Just Right

Johana Gustawsson Why did I love this book?

When I met my husband’s family a couple of decades back, his cousin told me: “You’ll never survive a relationship with a Swede if you do not know what “Lagom” is ”Lagom is our way of life.”

“Lagom” could be translated as “the right balance.” It means not too much and not too little. It can apply to work or to alcohol consumption. The Swedes often say “Lagom Ă€r bĂ€st,” “Lagom is best”.

With a great sense of humour, Everdahl sheds an interesting light on Swedish culture. You’ll never see the Vikings the same way after this read!

By Göran Everdahl, Anna Holmwood (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Book of Lagom as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Lagom, the Swedish word for "not too much, not too little", is spreading like wildfire around the world. The idea is to be consciously moderate and make your own decisions about career, clothes, travel and food, treating yourself to enjoyment, health and beauty without harming the environment.


Book cover of After She's Gone

Johana Gustawsson Why did I love this book?

Camilla Grebe has no equal when it comes to portraying Swedish society and culture. And she does it with poetry and accuracy.

In this book, her psychological profiler, Hanne Lagerlind-Schön, who is struggling with devastating early onset dementia, takes us to Ormberg, a small town on the Swedish east coast, to investigate a cold case.

This gripping social thriller is formidably well-crafted and the perfect companion during a snowy day.

By Camilla Grebe, Elizabeth Clark Wessel (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked After She's Gone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A gripping, twisty new thriller from the bestselling author of The Ice Beneath Her, perfect for fans of Will Dean's Dark Pines.

A case as cold as the season. A profiler who can't remember. A killer ready to strike again.

Psychological profiler Hanne Lagerlind-Schoen and her partner, investigator Peter Lindgren are invited to the small, sleepy industrial town of Ormberg to investigate a cold case: ten years earlier a five-year-old girl's remains were found in a cairn near the town.

But when a recurring memory problem resurfaces, Hanne struggles to keep track of the case. She begins keeping a diary,



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Book cover of Draakensky: A Supernatural Tale of Magick and Romance

Draakensky by Paula Cappa,

A murder. A wind sorcerer. A dark spirit.

On Draakensky Windmill Estate, magick and mystery rule. Sketch artist Charlotte Knight is hired to live on the estate while illustrating poetry under the direction of the reclusive spinster, and wind witch, Jaa Morland—who believes in ghosts. Charlotte quickly encounters the voice


Book cover of I Am Zlatan: My Story On and Off the Field

Johana Gustawsson Why did I love this book?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been one of the most successful football players in Sweden.

His biography is one of the most read books in the country, and not just because Zlatan is a national hero, but also because the writer who penned that book is a brilliant one: David Lagercrantz, the former journalist, became a few years back the voice of Stieg Larsson, continuing his brilliant Millennium trilogy.

This book is a tale of an exceptional destiny told by one of the most talented voices in the Swedish literary scene.

By David Lagercrantz, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ruth Urbom (translator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked I Am Zlatan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Daring, flashy, innovative, volatile—no matter what they call him, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of soccer’s brightest stars. A top-scoring striker and captain of the Swedish national team, he has dominated the world’s most storied teams, including Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain. But his life wasn’t always so charmed.
 
Born to Balkan immigrants who divorced when he was a toddler, Zlatan learned self-reliance from his rough-and-tumble neighborhood. While his father, a Bosnian Muslim, drank to forget the war back home, his mother’s household was engulfed in chaos. Soccer was Zlatan’s release. Mixing in street moves and



Book cover of Seachanger: Wave Weaver

Johana Gustawsson Why did I love this book?

Sussi Louise Smith is a Danish artist, painter, poet, children's book author, and a daughter of the sea. Her work is influenced by the Baltic and North Seas, which she is missing greatly as she lives in England.

Sussi touches my soul and my heart with every verse and every story she tells, to the point that I chose one of her poems (“And So It Begins”) as an opening quote for my latest book. 

By Sussi Louise Smith,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Seachanger as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


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Book cover of The Secret Humankind

The Secret Humankind by Gloria Oliver,

She keeps her head down and cleans up messes. When the body count starts rising, will trying to make a living get her flushed?

Julia Xero is stuck in survival mode. After losing the only person she loved, the introverted orphan longs to escape her toxic employment for the zen


Book cover of The Ice Princess

Johana Gustawsson Why did I love this book?

Camilla LĂ€ckberg's writing was a revelation to me because it was with this book that I fell in love with Nordic Noir.

But what I found out living here, in Sweden, is that Camilla, who is greatly admired in France and in the UK, is often criticized in her home country despite her tremendous success. Businesswoman, writer, and mother of four, Camilla is an exceptional woman, but she does not fit in with the prevailing Swedish “Lagom” in a country where celebrating success is sometimes regarded as a deadly sin.

This book marked the start of her incredible career.

By Camilla LĂ€ckberg, Steven T. Murray (translator),

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Ice Princess as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“A top-notch thriller, one of the best of the genre” (Minneapolis Star Tribune) from international crime-writing sensation Camilla LĂ€ckberg tells the story of brutal murders in a small Swedish fishing village, and the shattering, decades-old secrets that precipitated them.

In this electrifying tale of suspense from an international crime-writing sensation, a grisly death exposes the dark heart of a Scandinavian seaside village. Erica Falck returns to her tiny, remote hometown of FjĂ€llbacka, Sweden, after her parents’ deaths only to encounter another tragedy: the suicide of her childhood best friend, Alex. It’s Erica herself who finds Alex’s body—suspended in a bathtub



Explore my book 😀

Book cover of Yule Island

What is my book about?

Art expert Emma Lindahl is anxious when she's asked to appraise the antiques and artefacts in the infamous manor house of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, on the island of Storholmen, where a young woman was murdered nine years earlier, her killer never found. 

As she goes about her painstaking work and one shocking discovery yields clues that lead to another, Emma becomes determined to uncover the secrets of the house and its occupants. When the lifeless body of another young woman is found in the icy waters surrounding the island, Detective Karl Rosen arrives to investigate, and memories of his failure to solve the first case come rushing back. Could this young woman's tragic death somehow hold the key?

Book cover of The Book of Lagom: The Swedish Way of Living Just Right
Book cover of After She's Gone
Book cover of I Am Zlatan: My Story On and Off the Field

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