Reviews

• “Moa Herngren doesn’t fall for the temptation to demonize neither the mum nor the son. /…/ It’s frequently breathlessly skilfully told, with all the ugly little consequences that will follow in the wake of a wrecked family relationship.”

• “Masterfully written about relationships. /…/ I hadn’t read Moa Herngren before. What a discovery! /…/ It’s gripping. I become truly invested. Now I can’t wait to read Moa Herngren’s The Divorce.”

• “When Moa Herngren in her new pageturner takes on the [mean mother-in-law] phenomenon it makes for a distressing read but also constant entertainment.”

• “The Mother-in-Law you read with the heart in one’s throat and a budding feeling of sorrow.”

• “Moa’s thought-provoking page-turner would make the perfect TV-series.”

• “Herngren simply is incredibly talented at creating an ambience and generating strong emotions.”

• “[Moa Herngren] tells with warmth and perceptiveness. /…/ The story grows more profound and encompasses other layers than mother-in-laws and adult children breaking away from their parents. Moa Herngren portrays spot-on just how manipulative a collective can act and how self-fulfilling slander is, as the one constantly considered to be weird eventually will start behaving weirdly. /…/ Moa Herngren has accomplished the feat of making the reader openminded towards the fact that every interpersonal conflict has more sides to it. And most important of all: she does so with warmth and sensitivity.”

• “In addition to being able to take us to amazing depths when accessing difficult layers of a family’s emotional life, Moa Herngren is also excellent at creating tension. I devoured The Mother-in-Law in two bites – but I could have burnt down the house to just let me read it all in one breath. /…/ Like a hurricane, [Herngren] throws us here and there, spins us around, knocks us to the ground, wrings us out, forces us to tear off our own blinders to see the many colours between black and white.”

• “I’d love to shove this book in front of everyone’s noses so that they can read it and learn about human relationships. /…/ By the end of this book, the reader has been on a real roller coaster ride and the way [Herngren] uses words is simply fantastic. /…/ Pure magic!”

• “Moa Herngren brilliantly places us inside the mind of a woman whose actions and motives at first seem completely clear. As more details arise, the firm ground starts moving beneath our feet. /…/ Rather than specific accounts and big events, it is the small nuances and fragmented information that say the most about the characters. The drama and realistic depiction are masterfully constructed. /…/ All in all, The Mother-in-Law is a brilliant book because it twists things around until you don’t know who to sympathize with in the end.”

• “A shrewd novel highly worth the read.”

• “A true page-turner.”

• “Yet another pageturner from Moa Herngren.”

• “[Moa Herngren] knows exactly how to approach a relationship drama with family secrets boiling beneath the surface. Here we are served a story that continuously needs reassessing as the narrative’s perspective shifts, which makes it both interesting and genuinely exciting. Best: the perfect pitch in dialogue and reflections. For the reader looking for a relationship-driven pageturner. ”

• “Moa Herngren has written a thought-provoking and rather heartbreaking novel that pinpoints just how hard it can be to communicate and how it isn’t always so easy to understand that others don’t perceive us the same way that we view ourselves. With a perceptive gaze she weaves in situations that many will likely be able to relate to.”

• “It quickly becomes hard to put the book down, you become so invested in the characters and simply have to find out more. /…/ This is a wonderful and at the same time painful and gripping read about how our self-perception and the way others see us can be completely at odds. It’s a brilliant novel (…) Perfect for bookclubs to read together and then discuss how you each perceived the narrative.”

• “[Herngren] has created an entertaining caricature of a woman who terrorizes those she loves the most. /…/ Moa Herngren has a knack for poking at difficult relationships many can recognize themselves in. /…/ The many embarassing situations are thoroughly entertaining. /…/ The reader should take notes (…): Be careful to insist that everyone else should go to therapy. Because the horror, imagine if its yourself that is the reason for why others are struggling. This is perhaps the most important message in this family-horror novel that is a great choice of an entertaining summer read.”

• “Swedish journalist [Moa Herngren], is able to demonstrate, like few others can, the way each of us constructs a narrative in which we are the main, positive character. /…/ The highly psychological, even therapeutic approach makes Herngren’s family novels read like thrillers.”

• “Moa Herngren writes with great psychological insight about unhealthy relationships and bad communication patterns. /…/ There’s something about the protagonist Åsa which makes a profound impression. /…/ The novel leaves a deep impression. It’s a nightmare scenario to not be able to see ones grandchildren. But today it’s not unheard of, that adult children take distance from their parents. With a novel such as this we can both articulate this tendency and get food for thought. The Mother-in-Law is thus an important and topical reader’s experience about the difficulties in being a family.”

• “A mother-in-law novel that’s a stroke of genius! /…/ A clever novel with psychological insight that poses the question: how well do we really know each other within our close family relationships? The Mother-in-Law offers up altering perspectives, suspense and tempo. Yes please! Just as you think you have grasped how it all fits together, we get the story from a new point of view and become uncertain, who we can trust as narrator. It is truly well composed.”

• “This is a very well written novel, moving and exciting. You can hardly put it down until it has been read to the end. Perhaps the story is so captivating because we can all relate to what happens in it. /…/ Moa manages to paint a believable and extremely sensitive picture of both mother and son. /…/ Delicate story material is masterfully handled here, and the reader oscillates between sadness, anger, irritation and understanding. /…/ [T]his book ought to have a profound effect on all parents who read it. It inevitably makes you ask yourself if you have shown enough understanding towards your children, respected their boundaries of those of your in-laws and really let go, allowed the children to become adults? /…/ This is one of those books that stays with you and will do so for a long time. It requires thought and speculation and is one of those novels that is ideal for book clubs as there are so many things here that really needs to be talked about.”