Dark cold silence draws into the abyss
A young love at a romantic place on Sweden's Baltic Coast: What sounds like the beginning of a romantic cliche turns out to be an engrossing, captivating, and deeply touching bestseller. The best audiobook of the year!
What does it mean to be parents? This question preoccupies billions of people worldwide, including two parenting couples in the Swedish coastal city of Trelleborg: the Kekkonens and the Palevskis. Here, Jari and Maria Kekkonen, with their house by the sea, Mercedes in the garage, athletic, good-looking, professionally successful, and socially established. On the other hand, Sasho and Linda Palevski: He was in prison before meeting Linda, the love of his life, and swore off violence. They both work at a supermarket. Fiat drivers, humble.
The Kekkonens have two daughters: Isabella is 18, ambitious, just as explosive in school as on the soccer field, and has been dating their neighbor Sixten Ledin since she was eleven, the love of her life. Broad shoulders, almost two meters tall, blonde, and a rising football star. They are the dream couple of the school. Isabella's younger sister Amanda could be just like her, but she doesn't want to be. In the school play "Fuck. Merry. Kill.", she is the love interest of all the boys, but she doesn't want to marry any of them. At least not yet: She doesn't want to kill either. Yet, Amanda is prettier than Isabella, but lacks her ambition.
And the Palevskis? They have a son, Niko. He goes to school with Sixten's little brother and plays the piano, just like Isabella and Amanda. He is the sun around which their lives revolve. What unites the Kekkonens and Palevskis, who appear so different at first glance, is that their lives become intertwined in unexpected ways.
But life, as it often does, fate, or Swedish author Mattias Edvardsson, weaves together the stories of these two families: Amanda and Niko fall in love. For Amanda, it's almost a miracle, as she had given up on men long ago: An unknown person had posted naked photos of her online, making her an overnight sensation in Trelleborg - complete with scandal and backlash.
Niko had seen the photos, but they didn't interest him. He liked Amanda for who she was and gave her the time she needed. At first, everything seemed peaceful and happy, like pancakes. But then Amanda was found shot to death on a pier, and the police took Niko into custody. He didn't defend himself, he remained silent.
For the Kekkonens, it was clear: Niko had killed their daughter. The rumor mill began to churn, pointing to a motive of jealousy. Quickly, Sasho's violent past was brought up. Wasn't his father, long ago in Macedonia, accused of killing his wife? Hadn't Sasho served time in prison for a fight?
Edvardsson doesn't let the rumor mill deter him. He has his own idea, and he follows it strictly in "The Dark Quiet Death." The book is an ode to the love of parents for their children. It is unconditional - and that's a good thing. Sasho is plagued by self-doubt. Niko couldn't possibly harm a fly. Or could he? Had he perhaps also had a short fuse like himself before he met Linda? And Linda wonders, makes amends: Had she pushed Niko too hard? She just wanted him to have a better future, for him to have a good diploma and for the world to be open to him.
"Jari once again tormented himself with thoughts of how he could have prevented all of this. Should he have listened more to Amanda, paid more attention to her and her needs? How was Amanda, really? Jari thought he knew. But he knew nothing. Maria knew more. She had seen the self-inflicted wounds on her daughter's body, asked. But she had not received a satisfying answer either. Not even Isabella allowed Amanda to reveal her innermost thoughts. The big sister with her problems, was she not a part of the problem! She was, after all, a part of the problem!
An Emotion that Touches the Heart
"Dunkelkaltes Schweigen" is worth every minute of its nearly nine and a half hours of audio. This is due to the characters that you come to love and then hate, admire and later despise. The stories of the two families, who were not first connected by Amanda and Niko's love but by the parents' youth. The place Trelleborg, where you want to live and build a family on one hand, and on the other hand just want to get away from. Nothing is as it seems. And that is Edvardsson's merit.
He jumps through time, landing a year before the murder, then after the murder, then six months before, then three. The plot is like a spiral that gets faster and narrower with each turn. Until the break, the peak of the whole spectacle, which leads the listener emotionally to the brink of collapse. The distinctive and also sensitive voice of Frederic Boehle provides support and pulls, making you gasp for breath, only to pull you back into the depths of first love, parental happiness and -unhappiness.
"Dunkelkaltes Schweigen" is nothing more than an appeal to all parents to listen more and better to their children. "Parenting was not just about education. Above all, one had to be a powerhouse of love." (Sasho) "And that was simple: Taking one breath after another, letting your heart beat - and being there for those you love." (Jari) The two family fathers have learned the hard way."
In light of the drama unfolding in Trelleborg, concerns about bullying or harassment in school settings have surfaced. Some students have highlighted issues of online harassment, which significantly impacted Amanda's life after her private photos were shared without her consent, causing a local scandal.
Relating to the book reviews, "The Dark Quiet Death," a captivating narrative by Swedish author Mattias Edvardsson, has been praised for its exploration of themes surrounding parental love, unconditional support, and the impact of bullying or harassment on its characters.
