Smoke and Mirrors

Bernarda and Silas are theatre children. They sit in the auditorium of Malmö City Theatre and watch while the adults play on stage. One day, a new actress named Eva shows up with her two children, Asta and Fox. The four children become friends and retreat from the unpredictable adult world to create their own space, a lawless but enchanted existence where no adults are allowed.

Twenty-five years later, Bernarda is haunted by her past. Something intrudes and forces her to face the tragedy she has done her utmost to repress.

Smoke and Mirrors is a novel filled with backdrops and mirror phenomena, where everything is in flux.

Praise for Smoke and Mirrors:

“Smoke and Mirrors is a novel that cements Johanne Lykke Naderehvandis' position as one of the most interesting Swedish authors we have at the moment.”

- Borås Tidning

“The text is breathtakingly beautiful and lavishly saturated with symbolism. It is serious, but at the same time playfully built on a foundation of theatrical references. I want to start over again right away. There is more to discover here. In many ways, it is a wonderful novel.”

- Sydsvenska

“An original and moving novel about grief, friendship, and vulnerability in the so-called cultural elite.”

- Expressen

“There is much that I admire in this novel. The stark precision and delicate sensitivity, the humour that breaks through like a ray of light in Bernarda's darkness. The gothic atmosphere and the laconic love-hate relationship with Malmö.”

- Svenska Dagbladet

"As usual with this author, the literary landscape is overwhelmingly sensual. Everything smells and tastes, drips and clinks. It is both disturbing and beautiful. However, Smoke and Mirrors is more outward-looking than her other novels, its theme both more urgent and more accessible. Yes, it is a slightly more conventional novel than her previous ones, and I mean that in a positive way. It will, and should, be read by many people."

 - Dagens Nyheter

"Asta's haunting is both unpleasant and empathetically portrayed, one of the most convincing Gothic characters in contemporary Swedish prose. It is a successful modern ghost story – updated. [A] magical feat, with a haunted Malmö as we have never seen it before.“

- KULT magazine

” Unpretentious at first glance, but with a depth that lurks beneath the deceptive surface. Smoke and Mirrors requires at least one rereading. [...] Even though my pulse remains at rest, I love reading horror that stimulates the mind.“ 

- Göteborgs-Posten

”Johanne Lykke Naderehvandi succeeds in accurately capturing the atmosphere before and after the performances, the window into the world of theatre that the audience otherwise gets."

- Gefle Dagblad