APRIL WITCH

This award-winning 1997 Swedish novel shapes a complex family melodrama from an entirely original premise: the “connection” between a psychic, inexplicably omniscient invalid confined to an institution and the three stepsisters in whose infinitely fuller lives she has never played a part. In fact, bedridden Desiree has never met successful professional women Christina and Margareta, nor promiscuous, alcoholic Birgitta. When a series of letters unlocks the sisters’ shared and separate pasts, it is the unstable Birgitta who precipitates the story’s taut conclusion—ironically fulfilling Desiree’s wishes. A blockbuster, enlivened by rich characterization and irresistible narrative drive. Not to be missed.