March 2013 - a man recalls a woman in the last moments before falling under a tram. We have other flashbacks to years before. It's unclear to me that they're neccessary/helpful.
December 2019 - Bell (26) shares a Stockholm flat with a gay. She has been the nanny of a Stockholm family for 3 years. The father's Max and the mother, Hanna, is a psychologist. Linus is 9 and there are 3.75 y.o. identical girl twins. A call comes through to Bell that Hanna's husband has woken.
Hanna and Max aren't married. Bell didn't know that Hanna has a husband Emil who's been in a coma for 7 years. Hanna, Bell and Linus visit Emil in an Uppsala clinic, where a doctor blurts out to Linus that the man is his father. The father has a fit, frightening Linus.
6 months later, Hanna, the children and Bell head for their summer cottage in the archipeligo. Max will come later. The mother abandons the children one evening, returning back very drunk at 2am. Bell has a one-night stand with an older, very attractive male biochemist who lost his wife, child and father. We learn that Bell didn't go to university (her last parent died when she was 18). She went around the world with her fiancé, Jack, who died at 24 - pancreatic cancer.
The Uppsala incident seems to have been forgotten by all. Emil has recovered. Hanna's only just told him about Max and the twins. He's rich and could hire brilliant lawyers, so when he asks for Linus to live with him straight away, she agrees. She can't go with Linus, so Bell goes as chaperone. Emil lives on the private island opposite theirs. Linus had nicknamed it "007". Emil's not there when Bell and Linus arrive. They explore, looking for the hidden beach. When they find it, he's there waiting. It's the man Bell had slept with!
She criticises his personal skills regarding Linus. Various episodes ensue that help us to assess how Emil and son are getting on, and what he feels about Hanna and Bell. He hurts himself showing off in a yacht. Bell sees him sleeping with Hanna. He sees Bell going off to sleep with a sailor.
It seems that Emil likes Bell, and Hanna likes Emil. Emil and Max were friends since early childhood - we learn this 2/3rds through the book!
Emil had woken from the coma thinking that Hanna's face was the last he saw, and that memories of her had help him survive. But he doesn't recall that their marriage had been on the rocks - Hanna and Max had been having an affair.
Emil organises a gathering at his island. Emil starts a speech to the adults - like the whodunnit denouement. It's unclear that anybody knows what's going to happen - some assume that he's going to announce that he and Hanna were going to continue their marriage. Max seems to be suffering from 7 years of guilt. Hanna was in the car that was something to do with his accident (she'd been worried about how much he'd remember). Before the accident Emil had been trying to use custody of Linus as a way to make Hanna stay.
The adults realise that Linus has been listening. He's taken the sisters to the hidden beach. In the kerfuffle it sounds like Emil might have jumped to his death. And Hanna is pregnant.
In the epilogue we learn that Max had had a heart attack but is ok. Emil and Hanna have divorced. Bell left quickly, ending up sailing to New Zealand. Emil (with Linus) flies out to her there, asking for her hand. She says yes.
Most characters have a mix of sad and happy pasts, of good and less good characteristics. A rather contrived (albeit elaborate) plot and surprising gaps in people's knowledge keep the possibilities in balance and creates interesting, well written scenes though there's "paled visibly" twice, "squinted physically", and "thought to herself".
No comments:
Post a Comment