Marianne Fredriksson – författare

Hanna är född på 1860-talet i Dalsland, nära norska gränsen. Det råder kärva tider - undernäring och panikartad utvandring gör att de unga som blir kvar tidigt tvingas ta ansvar för sin egen försörjning. Hannas tillvaro gungar och får stadga först när hon träffar en man. Han kommer norrifrån, är lite udda och gammal men ansvarskännande. När de gift sig rustar de tillsammans upp en vattenkvarn. De har barn i två kullar och lever ett drägligt liv. En dag orkar dock mannen inte längre. Hanna blir änka och söker en ny framtid i sekelskiftets Göteborg. Johanna är Hannas dotter. Hon har goda minnen från Dalsland, pappan och de år då hon blir vuxen i Göteborg - en stad som under hennes livstid byter ansikte, från industriproletariat till välordnad storstad. Villkoren blir bättre, men den enskildes anonymitet ökar och klassklyftorna är fortfarande påtagliga. Johanna vaknar politiskt och reagerar mot kvinnors sämre villkor. Anna är Johannas dotter. Hon är en modern yrkeskvinna och hennes liv är händelserikt. Ur ett nutida perspektiv tar hon på olika sätt del av mammans och mormoderns liv, förstår ibland, berörs och påverkas. Hon jämför med sitt eget och ser skillnaderna - men även likheterna.

Anna, Hanna och Johanna är ett kärleksfullt och personligt porträtt av tre kvinnor ur olika generationer. Marianne Fredriksson varierar sitt språkgrepp när hon skildrar de olika tiderna. Samtidigt låter hon nyckelhändelser vandra genom generationerna och upplevas i olika tidsandor. Hon tecknar individuella bilder av tre olika kvinnor, bilder som läggs över varandra för att till sist sammanfalla. Nu ges Anna, Hanna och Johanna ut som en "Läsarfavorit" - älskade böcker framröstade av läsarna.

Katarina Elg is young and free. She adores falling in love, but lasting closeness frightens her and she cannot accept being tied down. Independence is more precious than anything else. Then she becomes pregnant and decides, surprisingly perhaps, to keep the baby. Her mother, Elisabeth, is supportive, but her lover reacts violently, believing that the pregnancy is no accident. Is violence inherited, Katarina wonders, and if so, can it be inherited among victims as well as perpetrators? These thoughts lead her to approach her mother, and the two women open up to each other as the past is confronted and explored.

''Brilliant ... Hanna''s Daughters outlines the lives of three generations of women and their complicated relationships with one another'' USA TODAY''Hanna and her daughters are hard to shake off, lingering long after you''ve turned the last page ... Profound, moving'' SHE''Extremely moving and, as its bestseller status might suggest, hypnotically readable'' SPECTATORAnna has returned from visiting her mother. Restless and unable to sleep, she wanders through her parents'' house, revisiting the scenes of her childhood. In a cupboard drawer, folded and pushed away from sight, she finds a sepia photograph of her grandmother, Hanna, whom she remembers as old and forbidding, a silent stranger enveloped in a huge pleated black dress. Now, looking at the features Anna recognises as her own, she realises she is looking at a different woman from the one of her memory. Set against the majestic isolation of the Scandinavian lakes and mountains, this is more than a story of three Swedish women. It is a moving testament of a time forgotten and an epic romance in every sense of the word.

''Sad and funny, this is a wonderful book. I didn''t want it to end'' WOMAN''S WEEKLY''An enthralling saga, set in Sweden, about the lives of two boys before, during and after the war ... impossible to put down'' THE TIMESAs a child, Simon was always aware that there was something different about him, something that caused late-night quarrels and sometimes tears. With the rise of Hitler in Germany and the coming of war to Sweden''s neighbours, the tensions increase.Befriending a young Jewish boy, Isak, who is quickly taken under his mother''s wing, enriches Simon''s life, but makes it more difficult too - for Isak seems to fit in much better at home than Simon does.With the war''s end comes the day when Simon must be told the truth. The truth about his affinity for the lake and its surrounding oak trees; for the strange dreams of an old man beneath the ways - and the truth about his past.

''Themes of motherhood, lost identity and the past have resonance and relevance ... The tremulous, delicate process of friendship is beautifully handled'' SUNDAY TIMES''A poignant, beautifully written book'' THE LADYInge is tall and cool and Mira is petite and dynamic. When they meet, each is attracted by something special and different about the other. But friendships based on the attraction of opposites can be stormy, and theirs is no exception. Blonde Inge is a native of Sweden, while dark Mira has fled there to escape the living hell of Chile at the time of the military coup led by General Pinochet. They are brought together by their mutual love of plants, but this gentle pastime is soon overshadowed by the terrible legacy of Mira''s past. It is a legacy that will reach out to touch many lives, including those of Inge and Mira''s children. Written with sympathy and insight and sparkling with unexpected humour, INGE & MIRA is a deeply moving tale of lives haunted by past violence.

''Intriguing, funny and moving'' EVE magazine''Simply mesmerising...a wonderfully moving portrait of a passionate and controversial figure from myth and history'' MS LONDON''Her gospel contains many episodes familiar from the others, but it is radical in its feminisation of them'' INDEPENDENTLong after the death of Christ, Mary Magdalene is married to a silk merchant, Leonidas. She lives a quiet and harmonious life until, one day, the apostle Peter comes to the market square to preach and she slips into the crowd to hear what he has to say. She is not impressed, and wants to forget that Jesus chose death, not life with her. But she has reckoned without the apostles who persuade her to write down everything she can remember. Mary starts with her Jewish childhood and the slaughter of her family by the Romans. Running for her life, she is rescued by Leonidas who leaves her in a ''house of pleasure'' where she grows into a beautiful woman. Then she meets and falls deeply in love with a young man from Nazareth - and her life changes. . .