Flödarp Forever
Flödarp Forever
Jesper Ahlin MarcetaBrilliantly balanced between comedy and family drama, Flödarp Forever is the unexpected, entertaining reading-experience you had no idea you craved this much.
When Jon and Eva grow up in Flödarp, there are forty families, two lonely old people, one bus shelter, three floodgates and, of course, the sawmill. All part of the village’s eco system. Almost all men work at the sawmill, most women do not work at all. Jon and Eva are a mismatched couple – he is restless and always looking for life around the next corner, she does not dare to imagine a future that is different from her past. Ideally, Eva would have stayed in Flödarp forever. And perhaps that would have been the case, if only she hadn’t accidentally set the sawmill on fire…
This splendidly entertaining novel takes the reader on a journey from the countryside of Skaraborg, to the world city of Tbilisi, and back again. It is a winding and philosophical story about the vagaries of life, and about how some things change over generations, and other things always stay the same.
Inspired by John Irving’s modern eccentricities in books such as The World According to Garp, and with just a pinch of Jonas Jonasson’s witt, Jesper Ahlin Marceta’s Flödarp Forever can only be compared to Wes Anderson and his quirky aesthetics. Encountering Jon, Eva, and eventually their children, brings The Royal Tenembaums to mind. Within the integrity of this story, all the unlikely happenings are believable!
The author’s background as a journalist can be told from the immense joy of storytelling noticeable on the page, and his doctoral degree in philosophy can be sensed between the lines.
Welcome to Flödarp, don’t forget to enjoy the ride!
