Ættarfylgjan e. Nina Wähä

Bókmenntahátíð í Reykjavík 2021

Hin skrautlega Toimi-fjölskylda býr í Tornedal, við nyrstu landamæri Finnlands og Svíþjóðar. Annie, elsta dóttirin sem býr í Stokkhólmi, verður ólétt og ákveður því að halda jólin með fjölskyldunni. Þar bíða hennar foreldrarnir Siri, ástrík en undirokuð móðir, og Pentti, harðskeyttur óyndismaður, og systkinin ellefu sem öll eru sérstæð, til dæmis gáfnaljósið Tarmo, hin umhyggjusama Helmi, Hirvo sem býr úti í skógi og talar við dýr, hinn undurfagri Valo ... En erfiðar ættarfylgjur og gamlar syndir hvíla yfir öllu og það er beygur í Annie því hún skynjar að tími uppgjörs er í vændum.

Ættarfylgjan er fjölskrúðug ættarsaga sem skrifuð er af sprúðlandi frásagnargleði en tekst um leið á við dýpri spurningar um innra líf persóna, svo að sorg og gleði vega salt í áhrifamikilli sögu.

Ættarfylgjan er 3. bók Nina Wähä. Sagan sló rækilega í gegn árið 2019, var tilfefnd til fjögurra helstu bókmenntaverðlauna Svía, þ.á.m. August-priset og hreppti Sveriges Radio Romanpris. Og varð líka ein af metsölubókum ársins.

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Swedish author Nina Wähä has published three novels in her home country and is also an actress and singer in the indie rock band Lacrosse.

Nina Wähä’s third novel, Testamente (Testament), was published in Sweden in 2019 and received unanimous praise from critics as well as readers. The story made a caused a thorough storm that year: It was nominated for four of Sweden’s major literary prizes, including the August Prize and won the Swedish Radio Literary Prize.

Testamente is the story of the wonderful Toimi family who live on the northern border of Finland and Sweden. The story is characterized by its joyful storytelling and the fine dance between happiness and sorrow.

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WIKIPEDIA

Nina Wähä, born March 21, 1979 in Stockholm , is a Swedish author, actress and singer.

In 2004, Wähä played one of the lead roles in Daniel Espinosa's feature film Babylon Disease. She also had a minor role in Henry Meyer's Four Weeks in June (2005). She sings in the pop band Lacrosse and has published three novels on Norstedts: S som i syster (2007), Titta ikke bakåt (2010) and Testamente (2019).

Biography
Nina Wähä was born and raised in a large family in Stockholm. Her father immigrated from Bulgaria in the 1960s and her mother is from the Finnish Tornedalen. She spent the summer holidays with her grandmother together with many cousins ​​in the countryside in Tornedalen and learned both Finnish and Meänkieli. She has completed a two-year education in literary design at the University of Gothenburg. She has worked as a restaurant manager and with catering. Nina Wähä is a singer inindie pop band Lacrosse and she has had film roles.

Authorship
Wähä debuted as a writer with the novel S as in Sister, 2007. The sibling relationship between two sisters splits at the parents' divorce when Paola stays with her mother and Isabel, the novel's narrator self, lives with her father. This means that Isabel moves around with her father who begins relationships with many women and eventually dies in a fire when Isabel is saved. The sisters' adult relationship is characterized by the dysfunctional family situation and their different upbringing conditions.

It´s not all about you, 2008 is a collection of short stories written on behalf of the Gothenburg Film Festival. Each short story is about a historical person.

In Look Not Back, 2010, a younger woman, Sabina, becomes acquainted with an older man. In his home, she finds letters that together make up a manuscript. It depicts how a man and two comrades in the 1960s leave communist Bulgaria in order to come to the United States, but they end up in the student uprising in Rome where various complications arise. Through Sabina, the three friends will radiate together again.

Testamente, 2019, takes place in the Finnish Tornedalen and depicts a large family consisting of a despotic and emotionally cold father, a submissive mother and twelve siblings. Annie, who is the second oldest in the big sibling group, visits the parents´ home during the Christmas weekend. An accident occurs, which causes Annie to try to persuade the mother to leave the oppressive father. This is followed by a bustling story where all the people speak and describe the family history in their own way. The author says in an interview that she originally wrote the book as a collection of short stories. A murder has been committed, which also gives a detective perspective on the plot.

All books have been well received by critics and readers alike. With the novel Testamente, Nina Wähä has been nominated for the 2019 August Prize. In 2019, she was awarded the Lydia and Herman Eriksson Scholarship, in 2019 she was awarded also with the community The Nine 's Julpris. In the same year, she was awarded the Albert Bonnier Scholarship Fund for Swedish authors. Nina Wähä has received the Swedish Radio's novel prize 2020 for the novel Testamente.