In the Month of the Midnight Sun

''June is a good month to purge. It's a time to flush things out, to eliminate, to seek liberation. It's a month of light. The month of the midnight sun.''Cecilia Ekbäck's [b:Wolf Winter 21413846 Wolf Winter Cecilia Ekbäck https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1419320744s/21413846.jpg 40714611] is one of the greatest literary loves of my life. A novel that transported me in a distant, mystical setting, in a way that few novels have managed to do. Therefore, there was much anticipation and excitement when I opened the front cover of [b:In the Month of the Midnight Sun 25766707 In the Month of the Midnight Sun Cecilia Ekbäck https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1466034423s/25766707.jpg 45613626]. As I was reading on and on, I realised that Cecilia Ekbäck is a witch of words. She weaves and casts spells with her sentences and the images she creates.The title alone is enough to attract our interest. The midnight sun is a uniquely beautiful experience. The resurrection of nature after the endless darkness. But is light a source of joy and hope? In this story, the light of the sun is not enough to reveil the secrets of a troubled community and a family that is falling apart.The story starts in Stockholm, where we meet Magnus, a mineralogist, who is sent by his father -in -law to a mission involving the brutal murder of three people. Lovisa, Magnus'sister-in-law, is sent away with him. So, the story moves on to Lapland, the land of mystery and the midnight sun, and particularly to Blackåsen, a place we first met in [b:Wolf Winter 21413846 Wolf Winter Cecilia Ekbäck https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1419320744s/21413846.jpg 40714611]. Magnus will find more secrets in his attempt to seek the answers, secrets that go beyond everything he has ever taken for granted. Biija, an older woman and one of the residents of the area, becomes his guide, while she is struggling with her own questions and terrors of the past.There are three points of view in this novel. Magnus, Lovisa and Biija who names herself Esther. Each character represents a microcosm, a smaller part of that big, dark-mouthed monster called society, but they aren't stereotypes- how could they? It's Cecilia Ekbäck, after all. They are fully fleshed-out and fascinating. Magnus is a scientist, a man who believes in what he sees and has the clarity of mind to realise the secrets that are kept sealed, and still, the patriarchal values with which he was raised, manage to influence his own views. It is through his contact with Lovisa and Biija that he succeeds in reavulating his prejudices. This brings us to Lovisa who- for me, at least- is our eyes to the story and the very heart of it.While Magnus and Biija are restricted by their religious and social expectations, Lovisa has the freedom of the person in despair, the one who is denied by everyone and has the open mind to accept and infiltrate whatever she considers useful. Lovisa is one of us, we witness a significant part of the story through her eyes. Biija has the wisdom of her people, the ability to ‘‘see'' and ‘‘read'' the nature and its signals without the smoked mirrors of society. In the character of Biija, we witness the fight between the Old Religion, the Pagan Ways of the region, and the attempt of the priests to smother everything they cannot understand, everything they fear and name it as ‘‘evil''. Their relationship with the teachings of Jesus is non-existent. As usual. ''At the Resurrection, Jesus will return to wake the Faithful. What will he do if He finds them incomplete?''Patriarchy and Religion are the two main themes in the story. Ekbäck has them working in parallel ways, driving the plot forward. Lovisa, a victim of patriarchal oppression in its most vicious form, finds a new affinity to nature and a new understanding of the people around her through Biija who represents the Old Ways. There is a comparison between the women's position in the Pagan past and the rules and orders of the ordained priests against them. No need to say which one is the losing side...Aside from these themes, Cecilia Ekbäck stresses the importance of Nature, how the people of the past retained a special kind of wisdom due to their sacred proximity to their environment, their respect for every living thing, for the trees, the mountains, the soil...This is done in a language of impeccable beauty, with short sentences that make the narration move faster. Short,meaningful paragraphs is a characteristic feature of Nordic Literature, giving this special ‘‘something'' to the novels.If you have read [b:Wolf Winter 21413846 Wolf Winter Cecilia Ekbäck https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1419320744s/21413846.jpg 40714611], you will equally enjoy [b:In the Month of the Midnight Sun 25766707 In the Month of the Midnight Sun Cecilia Ekbäck https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1466034423s/25766707.jpg 45613626]. Ekbäck takes a mystery and turns it into a novel that is part-Noir, part-Historical Fiction, part-Magical Realism. The story takes place in 1856, in Lapland, but the questions it poses are- and will always be- crucial and relevant to any time and any place. You need to read this one and experience the beauty that is Nordic Literature at its finest...