The Historians

Set during WWII in Sweden, this thriller by Cecilia Ekbäck will keep you riveted and probably shift your perceptions of Scandinavia (especially Sweden) forever. I love learning history through novels; for example, I had no idea that the 3 kings of the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) met during WWI to declare their unified neutrality. In 1922, Sweden set up the State Institute for Racial Biology to study the Swedish population from a racial perspective. Forced sterilization took place between 1934 - 2013, largely affecting those with mental or physical disabilities. "The objective was racial hygiene, economic savings, public health and control of of those deemed antisocial." (Author's note) "In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Norwegian authorities suppressed the Sami culture, dismissing it as backward. " (Author's note). Their lands were confiscated. In Sweden, "Sami were deemed racially 'less' than the rest of the population and not capable of managing their own destiny." (Author's note) They were not allowed to be educated in regular Swedish schools. 

In this book the author explores what might have happened had these policies been carried further,  mimicking what happened in Germany. A group of 5 history students at the university in Uppsala--4 Scandinavians and 1 Finn--are the best of friends until they begin working on a project, instigated by one of their professors. All avowed atheists, the group is asked to research what it would take to create a religion or a cause that they would all believe in. Ultimately they end up based it on some aspects of Norse mythology. But as they progress, they do begin to believe that Scandinavians are superior and show their condescension toward their Finnish friend, Matti. This dynamic breaks the group and they go their separate ways, except for Britta who stays on to work on her doctorate. When Britta is brutally tortured and murdered, her best friend Laura Dahlgren, tries to reunite the former members of their clique to help her solve the murder. What they uncover will shatter their faith in each other and the government and threaten their very lives. Parallel story lines dealing with the suspicious suicide of an archivist in the foreign ministry and the ongoing disappearances of Sami individuals in the vicinity of a crucial iron mine converge nicely to create a comprehensive conclusion--although I might have wished for a bit more vengeful justice.

Publishers Weekly offers a highly favorable review as does the Washington Post, which, although offering mild admonishment for speculative divergence from the actual history, concludes "its construction and dramatic denouncement are quite satisfying..." And Booklist also favorably says, "Ekbäck's suspenseful prose will give fans of spy thrillers and Nordic noir a tale to sink their teeth into."