WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Karin Alvtegen's "Shadow" is a dense philosophical study of whether or not "our choices are without meaning" or whether "it is precisely our choices that make all the difference." She presents the difference in these two views of choice with a story told by a character in the novel about a Nazi soldier sent as part of an execution squad who chooses to die with the condemned Jews rather than become one of their killers. Alvtegen continues her illustratration of the question of choice through the various choices and consequences of several characters: Kristopher, a boy abandoned on the steps of an amusement park who, even as an adult keeps hoping his parents will find him again; Marianne Folkesson, the Social Services estate administrator charged with finalizing the estates of the clients who died while under state care; Gerda Persson, former housekeeper to Axel Ragnerfeldt, whose estate Folkesson must resolve; Axel Ragnerfeldt, Nobel Prize for Literature winner, and his family; Torgny Wennberg, a forgotten writer and Ragnerfeld's cohort: Halina, Wennberg's former girlfriend, who becomes obsessed with Ragnerfeldt; and Jesper Falk, a writer and best friend of Kristopher, whose book has just been accepted for publication.

Hur föds idén till en bok? När faller det första fröet och när börjar det gro för att sedan sakta förgrenas? I efterhand är det svårt att minnas hur allt började. Hur karaktärerna mognade fram i tanken för att sedan få liv och korrigera sig själva under själva skrivandet. Två frön minns jag från andra sidan Skugga. Det första föll när jag upptäckte att jag blivit inskriven i Svenska Nationalencyklopedin. Stolt och glad läste jag texten: