MUSSELSTRANDEN – CLAM BEACH

By Marie Hermanson

Ulrika is standing on tiptoe, peering in through the windows of the summer house. Everything looks just like she remembers it, down to the last detail; the cosy living room with its stripy sofas, the seaman’s chest, the white rocking chair, the Art Nouveau lamp, the wall-shelving running round the whole room, crammed with bits and pieces…It is like peering straight into the past, and suddenly it all comes flooding back to her – the neighbour’s family who were all so easy to fall in love with; the daughter who had been her first real friend.

Consumed by memories, Ulrika takes her two sons with her to show them the magical place of her childhood – Clam Beach. Shimmering blue and mother-of-pearl-coloured shards crunch under their feet; here, secrets are at rest and the sweetness of life has a rendezvous with danger. But Ulrika is oblivious to this until the boys make a terrifying discovery…

Musselstranden (Clam Beach) is one of the greatest successes in Swedish fiction ever. It has been classified as the 19th most sold paperback book in Sweden, selling 92,000 copies have been sold in hardcover and 144,000 copies in paperback.