Mellan himmel och hav – New Beginnings

by Anna Fredriksson

A family holds so many secrets. Sally has never received an answer as to why her mother left her when she was only three years old, and her pain from being abandoned remains over forty years later. Perhaps her despair feels even deeper because she only has sporadic contact with her adult daughter, Josefin.

One day, she inherits a big family house in the childhood summer paradise Kivik, in the middle of the countryside. This happens to be where Josefin is living and Sally decides to leave everything and move to Österlen to try to reconcile with her daughter.

But Sally’s good intentions come to a halt when it turns out that Sally’s own mother also lives in the neighborhood – and has a good relationship with her granddaughter, something Josefin has chosen not to tell Sally. Deeply shaken, Sally encounters her mother Vanja, an eccentric artist who neither wants to revisit her past or have any contact with her daughter.

Sally decides to be the kind of mother she never had. She also plans to open a guesthouse in her inherited summer paradise: Pomona Bed & Breakfast.

New Beginnings is a family portrait that takes place on Österlen in Skåne, where the landscape is as wide as the ocean and the light shimmering and bright.

First published by Bokförlaget Forum, Sweden, April 2018.

Denmark, Gyldendal
Germany, Insel Verlag
Sweden, Forum

The theme of failing and disappearing mothers is handled light-handedly and with a driven language. Noone is purely good or bad, it’s nice with human shortcomings portrayed in such a loving way.
Tidningen Tara

the portrayal of the three generations of women appeals to me. It feels real. We all make bad decisions and things happen that make life take unexpected turns. Anna Fredriksson succeeds in making me curious and interested in the characters. I want to know more. Much more! I really look forward to read the rest of the trilogy.
Boktokig

It’s one of these engaging feel good novels, that also contains grief and many different feelings.
Bokstunder

The novel ‘New Beginnings’ (Mellan himmel och hav) has one big disadvantage – it’s impossible to put down.
Bok_Maja

She knows the art of depicting everyday life with both emotion and passion […] It’s real and believable […] It’s a book that I wish for many readers, there are questions but no given answers. A lot to think about and discuss.
Dala-Demokraten

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