Tinged with Swedish lore, this enthralling coming-of-age tale explores art and guilt in the wake of a mysterious tragedy at the end of the 1980s.
On the night of Easter Eve 1989, 12-year-old Hanna's older brother Erik and some friends go to the infamous Mount Verity, where there is a cave that, according to legend, was used in the witch trials in Östergötland during the 17th century. Rumor has it that whoever does not tell the truth and goes down into the cave will disappear into the mountain. Erik never comes home that night.
Over the years, Hanna and her childhood friend Marcus develop an increasingly symbiotic relationship, until life takes them in different directions. He pursues an academic career, while she fails to get into art school, feeling uncertain about her path and doubting her talent. When Hanna finally becomes a successful artist, she cannot let go of what it has cost her. What justice decided that she was allowed to live while Erik vanished? What is there left to believe in when the worst has happened? And can the story of Mount Verity be more than a fable?
Mount Verity is an atmospheric, naturalistic tale of survivor's guilt told in prose at once dreamy, almost magical, and yet realistic and rife with slowly building suspense. Therese Bohman grew up outside of Norrköping and now lives in Stockholm. Her debut novel, Drowned, received critical acclaim both in Sweden and internationally, and was selected as an Oprah Winfrey Summer Read. Her second novel, The Other Woman (Other Press, 2014), was short-listed for the Nordic Council Prize and Swedish Radio's Fiction Prize, while her third novel, Eventide (Other Press, 2016), was short-listed for Sweden's most prestigious literary award, the August Prize. Her fourth novel Andromeda was published by Other Press in 2025. Bohman is an arts journalist who regularly contributes to one of Sweden's largest newspapers, Expressen.
Marlaine Delargy studied Swedish and German at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and she taught German for almost twenty years. She has translated novels by many authors, including Kristina Ohlsson; Helene Tursten; John Ajvide Lindqvist; Therese Bohman; Theodor Kallifatides; Johan Theorin, with whom she won the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger in 2010; and Henning Mankell, with whom she won the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger in 2018. Marlaine has also translated nine books in Viveca Sten's Sandhamn Murders series and two books in her Åre Murders series.
