”Elisabeth Åsbrink is one of those rare authors who maintain such a literary level that they immediately appear greater than their original language area. Her novel Abandonment confirms this to a great extent. Here we are dealing with a book that immediately enters a great literary tradition which accommodates such diverse predecessors as Primo Levi and Isaac Bashevis Singer.” Christian Swalander, ALBA
“A very rich, learned and gripping book. Elisabeth Åsbrink’s strength has always been to find the details in the big picture. The small element that makes us actually perceive history as it was.” Madeleine Levy in Dagens Nyheter
“A novel that captivates and lingers. This is because when Åsbrink strikes the right note, she does it almost virtuosically, and because there is a power in this book that seems unstoppable. /…/ She searches for memories, traces of her history, while the grief and anger over everything hidden, demolished and destroyed bolts in her. Here the novel is permeated with frenzy and of a irreconcilability, as captivating as it is adament.” Therese Eriksson in Svenska Dagbladet
“Abandonment is a rich novel, educative and with a strong political pathos. Despite its serious subject, it´s also sometimes surprisingly funny. /… / Abandonment does its part to combat a lack of historical connection and knowledge. As a combative warrior, it places itself right in the midst of public debate while new anti-semitic winds are blowing in Europe.” Maria Domellöf-Wik in Göteborgs-Posten
“A beautiful depiction of a family in the shadow of rootlessness and the ugly history of anti-Semitism.” Jimmy Vulovic, Barometern
“Through the author’s veins, as well as in her poetic prose, flows a violent story about people who are sorted and ranked based on bloodlines. She draws connects her own sense of abandonment with her ancestors who were persecuted and expelled since before the Spanish Inquisition.” Cecilia Djurberg in Aftonbladet
