The Circle (61 page)

Thanks to Pär Åhlander who managed to find a format that summed up everything we wanted to convey and didn’t give up until he had achieved perfection.

Thanks to Catharina Wrååk, who read the first chapter at a very early stage and gave us good advice that saved us a whole lot of extra work.

Thanks to Tommy and Stefan Runarsson who taught us what Anna-Karin’s life was like on the farm, and Anna Bonnier who helped us fill in the gaps in Linnéa’s background. Thanks also to Maria Sadeghzadeh and her family, Elisabeth Östnäs and Camille Tuutti.

Mats would like to thank Margareta, who let us hold our sect-like writing camp for two in her beautiful house, and for producing such a splendid daughter of course. Sara would like to thank her mother – for always reading, supporting, challenging and being there to discuss books, writing and life in general. Thanks for all the stories!

Sara would also like to thank Margit and Micko Strandberg – for their warm reception during our research trip to Bergslagen and for producing such a gifted and handsome son, of course. Mats would like to express his gratitude to his parents – for always being allowed to come home, lock myself up in my old room and only show my face downstairs in time for dinner. I love you more than anyone in the world.

Mats would like to thank Micke – when two people work together things can get pretty crazy on occasion, so thanks for letting me mentally kidnap your wife the whole time. Your patience with my existence is boundless … ‘right?’ Sara wishes she could write a ten-page thank you to Micke for his total support, enthusiasm, humour, patience, friendship and love. Sometimes words really aren’t enough.

Sara would also like to thank her sister Sofia – for your enthusiasm, good advice and Frasse. And thanks to her dad
Claes
for good comments, and LucasArts games for teaching her proper keyboard technique.

A big thank you to those of you who have read the manuscript in various stages and provided valuable input and encouragement. A few of you are: Elin Borowski, Elisabeth Jensen Haverling, Siska Humlesjö, Viktoria Aponte Persson, Mathilda Elfgren Schwartz, Johanna Paues Darlington, Rickard Darlington, Minna Frydén Bonnier, Anton Bonnier, Hans-Jörgen Riis Jensen, Anna Andersson, Emelie Thorén, Johan Ehn, Lina Neidestam, Pär Åhlander and Levan Akin.

Thanks to all our friends and colleagues for their support and for putting up with our disappearing off to Engelsfors – and with the fact that once we finally did return to reality for a visit, that we did so in the form of a strange creature with two heads.

And a special honorary thank you to the literary Typhoid Mary, alias Helena Dahlgren, who brought us together because she sensed that we would like each other. Little did you know how right you were – and what a monster you created.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

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Epub ISBN 9781446474853

Published by Arrow Books in association with Hammer 2012

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Copyright © Sara B. Elfgren and Mats Strandberg, 2011
This English translation copyright © Per Carlsson, 2011

The authors have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Published in Great Britain in 2011 by Arrow Books in association with Hammer
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9780099568537