Beloved Sister

Åsa Hellberg

Sisters Anna and Cornelia grow up in a loving but financially struggling family on a farm outside Fjällbacka, Sweden. When both sisters get the chance to train as nurses and move to the big city, they jump at the opportunity. Anna is serious and careful, while Cornelia’s opinionated liveliness sometimes means that she talks before she thinks. Despite their differences, they love each other’s company, and always have each other’s backs.

In their new life, far away from the small community they grew up in, the sisters discover a whole new world in the big city: the rallying cries of early feminists echo in the streets, fascinating cases stimulate the mind, and a whole new brand of cultivated, suave men to fill ones daydreams with. As revolutionary winds of change blow in, their faith in the future makes it seem like the doors to their dreams are all wide open.

However, fate has different plans, and when shameful family secrets come to light, the sisters’ relationship is tested. But when hope seems lost, who can you turn to but a most beloved sister?

Set in the early 1900s in a changing Sweden, Åsa Hellberg uses women’s history as a colourful backdrop to tell her story, reminiscent of Rhys Bowen’s internationally bestselling WWII novels. A shift for the author into the more intimately personal, Hellberg has found inspiration in the bunch of brave, stubborn and hysterically funny women that can be found in her own family tree.