I'm trying to track down a book or two to read before my upcoming trip to Scandinavia. I'm looking for a good fictional book to get me in the mood. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I'd be interesting in hearing a reply as well since I hope to be in this region come April.

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Miss Smilla's Sens of Snow by Peter Hoeg<BR>Any of the Martin Beck mysteries by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo.<BR>If you include the Netherlands there are also the Van der Valk mysteries by Nicholas Freeling, The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach.

Hanna's Daughter by Marianne Fredriksson<BR>Here is what Amazon says:<BR><BR>1990s Stockholm: Anna has returned from visiting her mother in hospital. Depressed, unable to sleep, she wanders through her parents' house revisiting the scenes of her childhood. In a cupboard drawer, folded and pushed away from sight, she finds a sepia photograph of her grandmother, Hanna, whom she remembers as old and forbidding, a silent stranger enveloped in a huge pleated black dress. Now, looking at the features Anna recognises as her own, she realises she is looking at a different woman from the one of her memory. ... Set against the majestic isolation of the Scandanavian lakes and mountains, this is more than a story of three Swedish women. It is a moving testament of a time forgotten and an epic romance in every sense of the word. <BR><BR>I really enjoyed reading this book before we moved to Sweden.

Topping for Liz

Thanks for the suggestions? Anymore good ones that I should check out at the bookstore?

I second the recommendation of "Smilla's Sense of Snow." Another good novel by Peter Hoeg that you might want to check out is "Borderliners."

Wasn't Babette's Feast a novel before it was a movie?

Yes, Babette's Feast is built on a short story written by the Danish novellist Karen Blixen (My Africa)<BR>Bjorn, Oslo

Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson

The Sigrid Undset trilogy: Kristin Lavransdatter-The Bridal Wreath, The Mistress of Husaby,The Cross. I found them in paperback at a used book store. Probably found in your library or on Ebay, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.<BR>Subject: Medieval Norway

OOps, forgot to mention the Hostal del Cardenal in Toledo, a former Cardinal's residence built just inside the walls, all old antiques, good breakfast, very old Spain atmosphere, next door to an excellent restaurant, I think with the same name.

Sorry, folks, I'm not losing my mind, I forgot where I was when I responded to an earlier post.