Wolf Winter

Swedish Lapland: 1717; a group of disparate settlers struggles to forge a new life in the shadow of the grim mountain Blackåsenwhose dark mythology lies at odds with the repressive, almost feudal control exerted by the church. Into this setting, Maija, her husband and two daughters arrive, yea [...]
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Swedish Lapland: 1717; a group of disparate settlers struggles to forge a new life in the shadow of the grim mountain Blackåsenwhose dark mythology lies at odds with the repressive, almost feudal control exerted by the church. Into this setting, Maija, her husband and two daughters arrive, yearning to forget the traumas that caused them to abandon their native Finland and start anew. Not long after their arrival, their teenage daughter Frederika stumbles across the savagely mutilated body of a fellow settler, Eriksson, in a picturesque glade. The locals are quick to dismiss the culprit as wolf or bear. Maija, however, is unconvinced and compelled by the ghosts of her past she determines to investigate a murder. As the seasons change and a harsh winter known as a 'Wolf Winter' descends, Maija begins a dangerous quest to unearth the secrets that both her neighbours and the church have conspired to bury. Now as the snow begins to fall, she will come to know the full cost of survival demanded from those who would live in the shadow of Blackasen - and the terrible truth about those who have paid the price.
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There are six homesteads on Blackåsen Mountain. A day's journey away lies the empty town. It comes to life just once, in winter, when the Church summons her people through the snows. Then, even the oldest enemies will gather. But now it is summer, and new settlers are come. It is their two young daughters who find the dead man, not half an hour's walk from their cottage. The father is away. And whether stubborn, or stupid, or scared for her girls, the mother will not let it rest. To the wife who is not concerned when her husband does not come home for three days; to the man who laughs when he hears his brother is dead; to the priest who doesn't care; she asks and asks her questions, digging at the secrets of the mountain. They say a wolf made those wounds. But what wild animal cuts a body so clean?
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This is a novel of breathtaking imagination. An irresistible combination of crime and Nordic noir - with a touch of the supernatural. Takes the reader to an unknown time and place.
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Reviews
'The most brilliantly, dark, eerie, intriguing tale I've ever read. Think The Killing and then square it.' - Ruby Wax.
'Wolf Winter is a beautiful novel, full of w isdom and poetry. Cecilia Ekbäck w rites dark, compelling prose steeped in a pow erful sense of place. Spellbinding.' - Saskia Sarginson, bestselling author of The Twins.
'It's rare to come across such an original, compelling and beautifully written novel... supported by richly drawn characters, magical language and so many tw ists and turns that you'll be reading and shivering into the w ee hours.' - Pam Lewis, author of SpeakSoftly, She Can Hear and A Young Wife.
'As dark as a w inter night in the Arctic, as magical as the northern lights, Wolf Winter kept me turning pages long past my bedtime. A marvellous mixture of terror and delight' - Lauren B. Davis, author of The Empty Room and Against a Darkening Sky.

Author Biography
Cecilia Ekbäck was born in the north of Sweden; her parents come from Lapland. During her teens, she worked as a journalist and after university specialised in marketing. Over twenty years her work for a multinational took her to Russia, Germany, France, Portugal, the Middle East and the UK. In 2010, she finished a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway. In her writing she is 'returning home' to the landscape and the characters of her childhood in her writing. Wolf Winter is her first novel.