Wolf Winter

When I think of Lappland images of tipis, the mystical, ethereal lights of Aurora Borealis, a landscape covered with snow, a sky painted with all gradients of pink and purple, clothes in vivid hues of blue and red come to my mind. A place where the tales come alive to mingle with the lives of its people. This is Wolf Winter. A tale that is beautiful in its darkness and haunting in its bleakness. Folktales of witchcraft and ghosts emerge with everyday life becoming the blanket upon which one can forge plans of revenge and redemption.
At the heart of the story we find Maija - one of the most fascinating characters in recent literature - her eldest daughter Federika, and the Priest who has more secrets than any. Cecilia Ekbäck's protagonists are fleshed out and her beautiful prose leads us into an unforgettable reading experience. Although each character is interesting and extremely well - written, I admit I have a soft spot for our Priest whose name becomes known towards the end of the novel.
I don't consider myself a slow reader, but I deliberately read this novel as slowly as I could to savour each page. This is one of the rare cases where I hope for a novel to become a film. A dark, beautiful masterpiece in the hands of a Scandinavian director. Somehow, while I was reading, I kept picturing Finland's Peter Franzén as the Priest.
Such novels are hard to find these days. Do yourself a favour and dive right into it. It will not disappoint you.