Shame is a psychological thriller by the Swedish author Karin Alvtegen. The book is translated from Swedish by Steven T. Murray and published in Great Britain in 2006. The crime novel is originally published in Sweden as Skam in 2005 by Natur och Kultur, Stockholm. Karin Alvtegen is successful author, who worked in set design for film and stage, before she started to write. She was born in 1965, in Jönköping, Sweden and she is the great-niece of Astrid Lindgren.
Shame is a story about forgiveness and endless feeling of guilt and fear. The crime novel tells of two women’s life, which are completely different from each other but somehow so similar. Because of their past, both of them experience a strong feeling of fear and shame every day of their lives. Karin Alvtegen has successfully put together thrilling stories of losing someone tragically. The theme of the book is survival from painful grief and living with a sense of guilt.
The other main character is Monika Lundvall, a successful doctor of a distinguished clinic. She lost her big brother without warning twenty-three years ago, when she was only fifteen and her brother, Lasse, was just two years older than her. She never got used to that he was gone. Neither her mother couldn’t move on from that tragedy where she lost her beloved son, a promising young hockey player, who should have lived instead of Monika. ‘’Her mother’s grief over Lasse’s death was deeper than the joy she was able to feel that Monika was still alive.’’
Maj-Britt Pettersson is another main character of the book. Growing up in a religious family, under the eyes of God, was difficult to teenage girl. It made her through all kind of emotions and fear of refusal. It was disgusting and outrageous what her parents forced her to do because of her sexuality. Humiliating herself in front of the hold Congregation was agonizing experience to Maj-Britt. I can’t even understand what she went through in order to get some love from her parents. Because of the shadows of her past, she is a morbidly obese woman, who is hiding over thirty years in her flat from reality and responsibility. She only sees herself as a disgusting and meaningless human being.
Monika and Maj-Britt’s relationship to one another will come up step by step. It was interesting to see how they were connected each other. Both of them are guilty of somebody’s death. The fear of disclosure of the truth was visible. The shame that they felt was deep and it became marked on them. Shame is full of a pain that stems from deep self-contempt and self-inflicted destruction.
The language of the book is touching and descriptive. Because of the omniscient narrator it was sometimes challenging to follow of which of the two main characters were talking about. The novel included a lot of flashbacks which created a fascinating overall view. In my opinion Shame is a splendid work of integration into difficult times and exploration of the human mind. Occasionally it left me speechless. Shame is one of those books you won’t put down until the last page is read. It was absolutely captivating. I recommend this novel for those who are interested in psychological thrill and the cruelty of human.
Reading a novel in English wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. At first I tried to understand every word but after few pages I just focused on reading, not translating everything. I noticed that it was more compelling to read in English. In summary, my reading experience was terribly good.