Fredrika is a reserved woman, who for all of her life has lived in the shadow of the rest of her family: her father, a successful researcher, her mother a celebrated actress, and her brother Simon who has become the great rising star of Swedish film. ...
Fredrika is a reserved woman, who for all of her life has lived in the shadow of the rest of her family: her father, a successful researcher, her mother a celebrated actress, and her brother Simon who has become the great rising star of Swedish film.
The novel opens with Simon’s funeral. His sudden death has plunged the entire family into a state of shock. As usual, Fredrika - the quiet mouse in the family, has to look after the more extrovert family members. Her father buries himself in his work and is impossible to reach. Her mother seems to be playing a part - something she has done all her life, and now that the cameras are pointed towards her, she acts the role for all she is worth.
The second part of the novel is set in Paris one year earlier. Fredrika has fallen in love with an American man, and for the first time in her life she blossoms. Nevertheless, she is convinced that everything will be taken away from her. When it finally is, the consequences are devastating.
From then on we move back and forth between the two different times in Sweden and Paris. Gradually the questions begin to surface: why did Simon die, and what was it that actually happened in Paris? In therapy sessions, Fredrika tries to re-create her memories in order to put together the events that led to the family tragedy.