Reviews

• “Broken White is a novel nearly as great as it is pitch-black depressing (which is high praise, because it’s been a long time since I felt so awful after reading a novel). (…) [T]here’s nothing in Magnusson’s prose that bears witness of her journalistic background. Journalist-authors usually write directly and without excesses to move the narrative forward – here it’s the opposite. Magnusson commences by pausing at seemingly insignificant details, prefers writing too long rather than too short sentences, is more interested in nuances than plot. She is simply more of a novelist than a storyteller, and it makes me as a reader invested in her characters and I empathize with them when things go downhill (which they do practically all the time). The plot is enhanced by the foundation being well-executed. [Magnusson’s writing style] works best in flashbacks (…). [Magnusson’s] sense of detail delivers a small-town portrait equal parts vivid and entertaining. /…/ [Stefan’s, Tommy’s, and their families’] longing to advance is as understandable as the bottomless sorrow that surfaces when things go south. At this point, Karin Magnusson weaves the 90’s crisis into the text, and in that way the novel also becomes a story about Sweden. /…/ As a whole, Broken White is a very strong work, a book that holds from beginning to end, written by a person who knows what she’s doing. The expectations on Karin Magnusson’s next novel will be very high.”

• “[Broken White] is a tender, sad, and brutally funny story about big dreams that fall apart, passionate love, and strong friendship.”