Kim WallA Voice Silenced

Ingrid Wall, Joachim Wall

A Voice Silenced

National bestseller — 23,000 copies sold

‘I wake up in the middle of the night. Two different ideas have taken root in my consciousness during my half-slumber, ideas refusing to be silenced until I’ve acted on them. The first is that Kim needs to live on through a memorial fund, she will not be forgotten. The second is this book; the truth must be told, and we will write it. Kim will be depicted as the engaging and strong woman she was, as the human and journalist Kim—not as the victim. The decision gives me some respite—a luta continua—the struggle continues.’ — Ingrid Wall

10 August 2017. Kim Wall leaves the home she shares with her partner, Ole, to research a story about a submarine and its builder in Copenhagen. Several witnesses watch them cast off from the harbour. Just another day at work for a freelance journalist who loves writing about subcultures and underground factions. Soon, she is meant to be moving to Beijing with Ole, a new life waiting for her. But Kim never comes back. Instead of writing the headlines, she becomes the headlines.

The book is centered on two main themes: the journey her parents undertook after being awoken by a phone call in the middle of the night to hear Kim was missing. Their story is one of grief, joy, love, and the yawning, great void left in their lives by her death. It’s about questions that never get answered. And it’s about what lies ahead in their tireless efforts to keep Kim’s memory alive. The second theme concentrates on Kim and her life: her story of growing up an inquisitive girl in southern Sweden, to the driven, talented foreign correspondent and journalist she became—without ever losing her curiosity. This book is a celebration of Kim Wall’s extraordinary life, and became an instant bestseller upon publication with over 14,000 copies sold to date.

‘Joachim and Ingrid Wall reclaim the power over the story about Kim Wall in their book.’
— Dagens Nyheter

‘She humanized her subjects and sources.’
— Washington Post