Book Review: "A Nearly Normal Family" by M.T. Edvardsson
“A Nearly Normal Family” by M.T. Edvardsson
Publisher Synopsis: Eighteen-year-old Stella Sandell stands accused of the brutal murder of a man almost fifteen years her senior. She is an ordinary teenager from an upstanding local family. What reason could she have to know a shady businessman, let alone to kill him?
Stella’s father, a pastor, and mother, a criminal defense attorney, find their moral compasses tested as they defend their daughter, while struggling to understand why she is a suspect. Told in an unusual three-part structure, A Nearly Normal Family asks the questions: How well do you know your own children? How far would you go to protect them?
Trigger Warnings: sexual assault, rape, murder
Rating (out of 5): 3.5
Review: I think Elizabeth loaned this book to me, but I can’t be sure—it just seemed to turn up in my apartment one day. I was looking for something a bit lighter (I use that word loosely) after Ronan Farrow’s “Catch and Kill” and Garrett M. Graff’s “The Only Plane in the Sky,” both of which were excellent. (Read Elizabeth’s reviews here and here, respectively.) Somehow, a Swedish crime thriller seemed to fit the bill—the second I’ve read in just a few months.
Like most thrillers, I flew through this one. It’s much less dense than the other Swedish crime novel I read this fall (“The Chestnut Man” by Søren Sveistrup). We first meet Adam, a pastor, as he introduces us to his family—wife Ulrika, a defense attorney, and 17-going-on-18-year-old daughter Stella. Not long into the novel, as the summer comes to an end, Stella is accused of murdering a man much older than her, whom her parents don’t realize she knows. As Adam’s POV progresses, he comes to terms with the daughter he thought he knew vs the daughter he realizes he barely knows—and struggles with his faith.
We then switch to Stella’s POV, told while she’s being held in a Swedish jail cell. Through conversations with the state-provided therapist, we see flashbacks to the summer from Stella’s POV, getting a glimpse of how she came to know the murdered man, and coming to understand her relationship with her best friend.
Lastly, during the trial, we come to understand Ulrika’s POV, as the defense and prosecution call their witnesses.
While the publisher synopsis called this POV structure “unusual,” I didn’t necessarily think it was. (Perhaps it’s unusual for Swedish novels?) I did appreciate the insight Ulrika’s character provided into the Swedish criminal justice system, something I had absolutely no background on. Despite this being a translation, I did think each character’s POV section was fairly well defined—each voice was distinct enough to be believable.
Of course, each member of the family is eventually revealed to be keeping multiple secrets—not an unusual tactic for a thriller. All of the narrators were unreliable in some way, but this mystery wasn’t necessarily so mysterious—I guessed the novel’s final conclusion about halfway through. I did keep reading to see if I was right, though, and to see how it would play out.
I don’t want to dissuade anyone from reading this, because I did like reading it. However, there may be something just a bit off about the English translation—we never really got to know Stella or Ulrika, despite their voices all being fairly unique. Adam’s section seemed to be the densest, as he grappled with his faith; Stella and Ulrika often ignored the “show, don’t tell” rule of writing. One other thing to keep in mind is that Sweden is much more secular than the U.S., so the inclusion of a pastor was more than just a Nicholas Sparks-type addition; Adam was truly struggling to do the right thing and reconcile his faith with what he wanted to do for his family. Coming from such a secular country, I actually found this conflict more interesting than I would have from an American novel. (Maybe I shouldn’t admit that…)
Regardless, I enjoyed this one a lot while I was reading it, but while writing this review, I downgraded the rating a bit. Compared to other recent crime novels and thrillers, this one didn’t always hold up.
TL;DR: A nearly engaging novel that could have been even more interesting as just a character study of the family, or as a murder mystery without the family drama. Basically, a fast-paced Swedish crime novel that may or may not keep you guessing.
If you liked this, try:
“The Chestnut Man” by Søren Sveistrup (our Book Club discussion is here)
“The Whisper Man” by Alex North (my review here)
“Miracle Creek” by Angie Kim (Elizabeth’s review here)
“Lock Every Door” by Riley Sager (Moira’s review here)
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