Books by Moa Herngren

Moa Herngren, 2024

There are two sides to every story . . . Bea couldn't be more excited to trade the stifling Stockholm summer heat for vacation on Gotland Island. She’s looking forward to spending quality time with her beloved husband of thirty-two years, Niklas, and their two moody teenage daughters and recuperating from the stress of daily life in the company of her beloved in-laws. One night, shortly before their departure, Bea and Niklas have a seemingly mundane argument over a trivial issue, and Niklas goes out with a friend to blow off steam. As the hours pass, Niklas doesn’t come home, and Bea’s irritation soon gives way to panic as she imagines what kind of disaster might have happened to delay his return. What she soon learns will change her life forever: while her husband is fine, their marriage is not. Her kind, gentle pediatrician husband wants to leave her. But while this might seem like sudden insanity to Bea, for Niklas, it’s anything but… Translated from the Swedish by Alice Menzies

Moa Herngren, 2020

As a single mother, Åsa and her son have always been incredibly close. But their relationship that Åsa has always taken for granted abruptly changes when the son meets a new girlfriend. When the young couple urgently needs somewhere to stay, Åsa invites them to move in with her. Living with her adult son and girlfriend places a lot of new demands on their relationships however. Åsa goes to great lengths to form a connection with her daughter-in-law, but is instead considered to be interfering by the couple. When Åsa at one point, with the best intentions, stumbles upon some information she wasn’t supposed to know, it is the prelude to a conflict that will tear her family apart. Misunderstood, Åsa is also soon left with a new image of her son’s childhood, filled with accusations she doesn’t recognize. Are these really his own words, or is he under someone else’s influence? It becomes painfully apparent to Åsa that is no longer the most important person in her son’s life, that she’s been replaced by the daughter-in-law. When Åsa’s own mother passes away, she finds herself alone, with no one left to fend in her corner.