And in the Vienna Woods the Trees Remain
ORIGINAL TITLE: Och i Wienerwald står träden kvar
AUTHOR: Elisabeth Åsbrink
ORIGINAL PUBLISHER: Natur & Kultur
GENRE: Non-fiction
Reviews
”This longing and desperation is only heightened by Asbrink’s deep research on the systemic antisemitism in Sweden at the time, as well as her gorgeous prose. Using uniquely haunting and beautiful language, Asbrink (and Vogel) convey the agony and hopelessness of one family ripped apart, as well as the overpowering sense of doom blanketing Europe.”
Jewish Book Council
"Top-notch microcosmic World War II history and an excellent illustration of the immense power of the written word."
KIRKUS
"Åsbrink brings us a testimony, that must be remembered and is as urgent as unbearable."
Politiken
"In beautiful prose the author brings history of suffering to the present"
BT
"A masterpiece … The stack of letters from the war is in itself an unprecedented basis for a documentary work about the Jewish and Nazi atrocities. But Elisabeth Åsbrink is more than a journalist, more than an observing chronicler. She is a poet. Gently she weaves her own family’s fate, and her research into history. With the touch of a fiction writer she brings the over 70-years-old drama to new life. With a pen of a poet she revives a story that could have been forgotten. Page after page I´m impressed by Åsbrinks sence of language, her outstanding communication skills, her superior literary endowment."
VG
"A dramatic an masterly put togehter showdown with Swedish rasicm between the wars. (…) Åsbrinks book is more than very good, in the multicultural Norway it is also completley up to date."
NRK
Endorsements
“And in the Vienna Woods the Trees Remain… is only now appearing in English, in Saskia Vogel’s smooth translation… fascinating....To make the separation more bearable, Otto’s parents had resolved to write to him every day. These letters form the basis of Åsbrink’s touching book, and though only a couple of Otto’s have survived, it is possible to trace what he was doing from his parents’ side of the correspondence. Åsbrink has added much research of her own.”
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
"Through an intimate story about a Jewish boy trying to escape extermination and looking for shelter in Sweden, Elisabeth Åsbrink tells a universal story. Story of people who, while convinced of their own virtue and responsibility, may contribute to a crime. By bringing back Europe’s very recent and very ignominious past, the author awakens readers’ sensitivity to a drama taking place before our very eyes; the drama of refugees in contemporary world."
Motivation for the Kapuściński Prize
Rights sold
Czech Rights sold to Vydavatelstvo Absynt S.R.O.
Danish Rights sold to People's Press
Dutch Rights sold to Querido
Estonian Rights sold to Sinisukk
German Rights sold to Arche
Norwegian Rights sold to Spartacus
Polish Rights sold to Czarne
World English rights sold to Other Press (US)