My rating: 4 of 5 stars
SWEDISH REVIEW
Med en nutida ramberättelse, en huvudhandling förlagd till Oslo senhösten 1967 och med tillbakablickar till krigets 1942, skriver Kjell Ola Dahl fram en elegant och trovärdig historia som 2015 tilldelades både Rivertonpriset och Bragepriset för bästa kriminalroman.
Ett speciellt judiskt armband dyker upp på en auktion. En kvinna känner igen armbandet, som en gång varit i hennes ägo, och bestämmer sig för att stoppa auktionen. Hon kommer dock aldrig att få tillgång till hela den fruktansvärda historia som armbandet är en del av - den som läsaren till slut får klarhet i.
1942 blir den judiska kuriren Ester med täcknamnet Hilde förrådd och undgår med nöd och näppe att arresteras av Gestapo genom att fly till Sverige. I Stockholm möter hon motståndshjälten Gerhard Falkum. De är redan bekanta från Oslo. Han har flytt från tyskarnas misstankar om att han skulle ha dödat sin fru Åse. Esters bästa vän.
Strax därpå omkommer Gerhard i en brand. Men så, 1967, efter att ha varit dödförklarad i ett kvarts sekel, dyker han upp på nytt. Han vill återuppta kontakten med dottern som han fick med Åse. Men varför nu, nästan tjugofem år senare?
Krigets händelser griper tag i Ester på nytt. Hon tvingas gräva i det förflutna och plocka fram färdigheter som hon inte har använt på mycket, mycket länge.
**********
Jag har tidigare läst en nutida kriminalroman av Kjell Ola Dahl (en bok som jag verkligen gillade) och var nyfiken på att läsa en historisk kriminalare denna gång. Handlingen i Täcknamn Hilde äger rum både nu och under 60- och 40-talet. Den nutida berättelsen är den historia som boken börjar och slutar med. Handlingen inledes med att en äldre kvinna som läser i en tidning om en familjen klenod som ska auktioneras bort och hon svär på att stoppa auktionen. Det är efter detta som berättelsen förflyttar sig tillbaka i tiden och handlingen börjar växla mellan 40- och 60-talen och vi får veta sanningen om armbandet, en berättelse som den gamla kvinnan aldrig kommer få full klarhet i.
Jag var så uppslukad med 40-talet och 60-talets historier att jag glömde bort armbandet tills det dök upp i berättelsen senare. Täcknamn Hilde är en spännande och engagerande bok som jag kände kunde ha varit lite längre. Jag ville veta mer om Esters liv efter andra världskriget om hennes son i Israel och vad som hände under åren efter händelserna under de händelserika dagarna på 60-talet. Boken må vara en fristående bok, men jag skulle inte ha något emot att läsa mer om Esther.
Täcknamn Hilde är en fängslande roman. Jag gillade speciellt att läsa om Norge under andra världskriget och nazisternas invasion och vad det hade för konsekvens för judarna. Jag rekommenderar boken varmt!
Tack till Bokfabriken för recensionsexemplaret!
Present time. A special Jewish bracelet appears on an auction. A woman recognizes the bracelet, once in her possession, and decides to stop the auction. However, she will never have access to the whole terrible story of which the bracelet is a part - the one that the reader finally gets clarified towards the end of the book.
1942, Jewish courier Ester with the cover name Hilde is betrayed and she avoids being arrested by Gestapo by fleeing to Sweden. In Stockholm, she meets the resistance hero Gerhard Falkum. They are already familiar from Oslo. He has fled from Norway after the Germans started to suspect that he killed his wife, Åse. Esther's best friend.
Immediately thereafter Gerhard dies in a fire. Then, in 1967, after being declared dead for a quarter of a century, he reappeared. He wants to resume the contact with the daughter he got with Åse. But, why now, almost twenty-five years later?
The war's events get hold of Ester again. She is forced to dig in the past and pick out skills that she has not used for a very long time.
I have previously read a contemporary crime novel by Kjell Ola Dahl (a book that I really liked) and was intrigued by the prospect of reading a historical crime novel this time. Code Name Hilde story takes place both in present time, during the 60s and 40s. The present time story is the story that the book starts off with and also ends with. The story starts off with an older woman recognizing a family heirloom that is about to be auctioned away and she vows to stop the auction. It's then the story moves back and forth between the 40s and 60s as we get the whole story told, a story that the old woman will never get the full scope of.
I was so caught up with the 40s and 60s storylines that I pretty much forgot about the bracelet until it showed up in the story later on. It's such a thrilling and engrossing book that I felt that it could have been a bit longer, I wanted to know more about Ester's life after WW2, about her son in Israel and what happened during the years after the events during the eventful days in the 60s. This may be a stand-alone book, but I wouldn't mind reading more about Ester.
Code Name Hilde is a captivating novel. I especially liked reading about Norway during WW2 and the invasion of Nazi Germany and the peril of the Jews in the country. I recommend the book warmly!
Thanks to Bokfabriken for the review copy!
ENGLISH REVIEW
1942, Jewish courier Ester with the cover name Hilde is betrayed and she avoids being arrested by Gestapo by fleeing to Sweden. In Stockholm, she meets the resistance hero Gerhard Falkum. They are already familiar from Oslo. He has fled from Norway after the Germans started to suspect that he killed his wife, Åse. Esther's best friend.
Immediately thereafter Gerhard dies in a fire. Then, in 1967, after being declared dead for a quarter of a century, he reappeared. He wants to resume the contact with the daughter he got with Åse. But, why now, almost twenty-five years later?
The war's events get hold of Ester again. She is forced to dig in the past and pick out skills that she has not used for a very long time.
**********
I have previously read a contemporary crime novel by Kjell Ola Dahl (a book that I really liked) and was intrigued by the prospect of reading a historical crime novel this time. Code Name Hilde story takes place both in present time, during the 60s and 40s. The present time story is the story that the book starts off with and also ends with. The story starts off with an older woman recognizing a family heirloom that is about to be auctioned away and she vows to stop the auction. It's then the story moves back and forth between the 40s and 60s as we get the whole story told, a story that the old woman will never get the full scope of.
I was so caught up with the 40s and 60s storylines that I pretty much forgot about the bracelet until it showed up in the story later on. It's such a thrilling and engrossing book that I felt that it could have been a bit longer, I wanted to know more about Ester's life after WW2, about her son in Israel and what happened during the years after the events during the eventful days in the 60s. This may be a stand-alone book, but I wouldn't mind reading more about Ester.
Code Name Hilde is a captivating novel. I especially liked reading about Norway during WW2 and the invasion of Nazi Germany and the peril of the Jews in the country. I recommend the book warmly!
Thanks to Bokfabriken for the review copy!
No comments:
Post a Comment