Why a Booktrail?
2000s: The portrayal of one woman’s struggle to pull herself up from the paralyzing depths of despair
The White City
What you need to know before your trail
Karin knew what she was getting herself into when she fell for John, the high-flying criminal and love of her life. But she never imagined things would turn out like this: John is now gone and the coke-filled parties, seemingly endless flow of money and high social status she previously enjoyed have been replaced by poverty and desparation. All that remains of Karin’s former life is the big house he bought for her – and their daughter.
Now Karin is alone with the baby. With the authorities zeroing in on organized crime, John’s shady legacy is catching up with her, and the house is about to be seized. Over the course of a few nerve-wracking days, Karin is forced to take drastic measures in order to claim what she considers rightfully hers.
Travel Guide
Sweden
“It was the end of winter, Under the sky that had always been there, now dark, the house still looked almost new. It had a sort of shine to it and
was surrounded but nothing but silence and snow. Snow framed the large frosted windows and rose from the shadows, piling in high high drifts against the walls of the house. Not a shovel had been lifted.
The wind-whipped sow had formed a small drift on the front steps, A frozen wave revealing that no one had come or gone for several days.”
This short story is set in Sweden, but in a vague place which is never named. In an interview with a Swedish newspaper, Ramqvist says that she wanted to write about these two words, the rich and poor and the bridge between them. Status and class are not things which are spoken of and which don’t exist in the same way in Sweden. The organised crime world is one which appears as a world distant from the one where regular people live. It is a world of “Follow the money” a way of getting to the criminals who are on a list, seemingly untouchable. It’s an existence between the black and white, the grey areas of life.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The White City
Destination: Sweden Author/Guide: Karolina Ramqvist Departure Time: 2000s
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