The Details by Ia Genberg

 

The Details is narrated by a woman who is lying in her bed, sick with a fever.  As she lies there, she idly pages through a book and sees the inscription from the woman who gave her the book.  This leads to her remembering her time with the woman who was her first love and then moving on and remembering others who she spent time with and who had an impact on her life.

The first story is of Johanna, her first love.  They parted and Johanna has gone on to become a famous television presenter.  The next story is of Niki, her college roommate and best friend for several years.  Niki is intense and when she is your friend, she is everything.  But Niki cannot sustain relationships and every one she has ends up badly.  When Niki is done with someone, she is done forever.

The next story is that of Alejandro.  The narrator is living with another man when she goes to a club and sees Alejandro on stage, dancing, which is his background.  She is immediately entranced and goes backstage after the band is through.  She and Alejandro talk for hours and soon are involved in an intense affair.  But they part when Alejandro goes on tour and she knows somehow that they will never be together again.

The last story is of Brigitte, who is the narrator's mother.  Brigitte is consumed by a tragedy in her past and spends her life anxious and unable to enjoy life and what it brings her.  The narrator wonders at the anxiety and finds out its source many years later. 

Ia Genberg was a journalist in Sweden before she became an author.  Her first book was released in 2012 and she has written several others.  This novel was shortlisted for the International Booker in 2024 and her other novels have won acclaim as well.  The narrator's look back at her life will encourage the reader to do the same and examine the friendships and loves that have defined their own lives.  What I found interesting was the stories she left out while including these four.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.