Description

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BERNARD SHAW PRIZE 2023

Elegant, mature and richly atmospheric, a bittersweet love story glimpsed through the veil of memory

‘The love child of Normal People and Brideshead Revisited… Sublime and elegiac’ Francesca Reece

‘[A] heady mix of hope and nostalgia, of desire and regret, of new love and lost love’ Sunday Times

Thora, August and Hugo come from different worlds. One is an art school dreamer, one a wealthy scion of the old-world elite, and one an ordinary boy from out of town. But over the course of two sky-blue summers in Stockholm, they are drawn together magnetically.

Years later, Hugo is long estranged from Thora and August when their daughter knocks on his door. She has questions about her parents which she believes Hugo can answer – and the memories of those luminous days of youth come flooding back.

Modern yet timeless, poignant and euphoric, The Trio is a novel about the path not taken, the people we might have become, and the relationships which shape and haunt us long after they come to a close.

‘Remarkably assured… Sharp, vividly imagined and affecting, [it] intrigues and captivates’ Irish Times

‘An international success before even being published, The Trio is a novel that stands well above the hype… Elegiac, bittersweet, [with] the golden shimmer of nostalgia’ Gefle Dagblad

Publisher Review

A smart, elegant and moving novel, all the more impressive for it being Johanna Hedman's debut... The stylish emotional distance of Normal People * The Times * Sharp, vividly imagined and affecting in a way that both intrigues and captivates * Irish Times * Fans of Sally Rooney will adore this excellent novel, which has garnered rave reviews * The Bookseller * The Trio is like the love child of Normal People and Brideshead Revisited. A sublime and elegiac meditation on love, intimacy, freedom and jealousy, it elegantly explores the gulf between our interior lives and the personas we perform - and between ourselves and other people. Hedman's writing (and Josefsson's stunning translation) is staggeringly beautiful. Vivid, effortless, and perceptive to a molecular degree -- Francesca Reece, author of 'Voyeur' Delicate and beguiling... The Trio spans from Berlin to London to Paris as the [characters] continually renegotiate who they each are to each other, questions of ownership and privilege floating in the background of summers which feel both fleeting and endless * Esquire * An international success before even being published, The Trio is a novel that stands well above the hype... Elegiac, bittersweet, [with] the golden shimmer of nostalgia, it is a story about big emotions * Gefle Dagblad * Mature and confident, delicate and eloquent, a study in intimacy . . . Timeless and universal * Kult Magasin * Full of verve, nostalgia, longing and the claustrophobic euphoria of being in the world with the people you love, this gorgeous novel whisks you along with it; you have no choice but to gratefully follow -- Lara Williams, author of 'Supper Club' Vigorous and vivid, wistful and engaging. Johanna Hedman should definitely expect to win prizes * Upsala Nya Tidning * An acute, eloquent and bittersweet debut... There may be an August Prize nomination! * Femina * An unusual debut, confident and intriguing, [by] a mature and gifted writer. The implicit nostalgia works its magic [in this] story of the time when life first gains colour and shape * Expressen * The ending leaves a stinging sensation [asking] questions of what really becomes important in hindsight, what we remember and how we remember it, and, not least why we become who we are as a consequence of our choices * SR Kulturnytt * Stylishly and elegantly composed * Goeteborgs-Posten * How on earth is it possible that Johanna Hedman is a debutant? It feels as if I've seen the future of Swedish writing -- Alex Schulman, author of 'The Survivors' An absolutely fantastic debut novel -- Fredrik Backman, author of 'A Man Called Ove'