eve of the Great Depression. As Sweden heads toward the years of economic crisis and massive unemployment, we the readers reacquaint ourselves with well-loved characters from previous volumes as they age and ponder their existence. The dramatic turns of events of younger characters’ lives capture the reader, as they enter adulthood in a volatile period in history. People grow and change as does the ever-transforming city, and meanwhile, the world becomes engulfed in yet another world war. The war unfolds through the words and thoughts of Fogelström’s Swedish citizens. During these troubled times, Sweden as a nation transforms itself, with the state taking on greater social responsibility, and developing what would henceforth become known as “the Swedish model.”

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