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2000s: The body of a man is found in the marshlands, his pockets filled with gold
The Forbidden Place
What you need to know before your trail
In the remote Swedish wetlands lies Mossmarken: the village on the edge of the mire where, once upon a time, people came to leave offerings to the gods.
Biologist Nathalie came in order to study the peat bogs. But she has a secret: Mossmarken was once her home, a place where terrible things happened. She has returned at last, determined to confront her childhood trauma and find out the truth.
Soon after her arrival, she finds an unconscious man out on the marsh, his pockets filled with gold – just like the ancient human sacrifices. A grave is dug in the mire, which vanishes a day after. And as the police investigate, the bodies start to surface…
Travel Guide
Sweden, Mossmarken
Åmål and Fengerskog, Sweden
Mossmarken is fictional but is the land around the villages of Amal and Fengerskog where Nathalie passes and drives past the signs for Amal and heads to her cottage on the marshes.
“The murky, windswept peat bogs of northern Sweden are a profoundly desolate place. Once upon a time, here amidst the stunted trees, marshy fields, and treacherous quicksand, ancient people came to leave offerings to the gods. Including human sacrifices.”
The marsh is evoked with style and eerie prose. Nathalie is staying in the cottage only used in summer months. The call of the curlew can be heard and so when she spots a jogger in these parts, it’s unusual. This is also the landscape of legends – many stories told of the Lingonberry girl to name but one…
The land is haunting:
A vast landscape of fading colours, squatty pines and sinking ground. It was a landscape the sun seemed not to reach, a landscape that never dried out. The ground was always weeping, always wallowing.
And now she had returned of her own accord.
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
A very haunting and captivating novel. A slow burner which creeps up on you like a man in a black coat lurking on those very marshes.
The story creeps up on your and totally immerses you in the essence of the marshes themselves. It’s a place important to Natalie for reasons to be discovered and the finding of the man with gold coins in his pockets, swiftly followed by another strange case is eerily drawn. Throughout the novel, there’s a sense that there is something out there, something you, the reader, isn’t quite seeing through the fog that emanates from the marshes and indeed the book. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on more than one occasion.
Oh and there’s plenty of legends and superstitions – the rather sweet sounding Lingonberry girl is anything but. As the police investigate the escalating case and strange goings on, there’s a lot to allow you to sink into the narrative as you would the marsh itself.
I did like the way the historical legends, the taking of samples, the landscape of the bog and the sacrificial killings built a major part of the story and atmosphere. At barely 300 pages, this was a quick visit but I’ll be back for more.
Mossmarken is the perfect landscape for this Swedish tale of legends, scientific research, and a tale which draws you in like a body falling deep down into the bog itself.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Forbidden Place
Destination : Åmål, Gotaland Author/Guide: Susanne Jansson Departure Time: 2000s
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