The Faculty of Dreams

A haunting novel of a woman's lifelong witness to her father's illness, and Stockholm's mythic mental hospital.<BR><BR>Jackie's father, Jim, lives at Beckomberga. She takes the bus to visit him, though sometimes he refuses to see her and so instead she gets to know his fellow inmates: Olof, a man who has been there since he was a teenager, some sixty-three years; Sabina, wildly unconventional and beloved by Jackie's father and their doctor; and others. Beckomberga is Stockholm's famous, infamous mental hospital. An enormous, once-elegant building, it sits beside the most beautiful park, slowly falling apart. The doctor sometimes takes the residents for a night out-champagne in the backseat of the car, parties in town; he says: One night beyond the confines of the hospital makes you human again. <BR><BR>Over the years, Jackie's family also falls apart, as her mother, Lone, tries to escape the oppressive hold Jim's illness has on her, as Jim himself tries to escape in any way possible. What follows is an extraordinarily beautiful, stirring portrait of a family and the ways in which our flaws, yearnings, and the unreachable parts of ourselves shape those we love. Jackie bears witness to it all across time, with wisdom and aching clarity-Jim's sadness and absence, Lone's attempts to cope and then flee, the loneliness and wonder of Beckomberga, her own capitulation and erasure in the face of what they need. <BR><BR>Sara Stridberg's Beckomberga is a truly unforgettable novel by one of Sweden's most admired writers.

We Go to the Park is a beautiful, lyrical meditation on going to the park to play—which extends into a reflection on life itself—from Booker Prize-longlisted author Sara Stridsberg, and the inimitable, award-winning illustrator Beatrice Alemagna!Translated from Swedish by B.J. Woodstein<BR><BR>A Kirkus Best YA Book of 2024<BR>One of Maria Popova’s Marginalian Favorites of 2024<BR>Selected for the USBBY Outstanding International Book List, 2025 The park beckons us to leave our daily routines behind and enter its zone of endless possibility. In the park, the usual rules don’t apply. In the park, what matters most is the moment, and losing track of time to the timelessness of imagination, invention, observation, and chance. In the park, there are risks, of course, but also the deepest rewards, to be found in the freedom experienced through play that is both embodied and participatory. It is not the lone “I,” but the “we” that goes to the park, where chance encounters might suddenly become moments of deep connection—however fleeting—with others, nature, and ourselves. Originally published in Sweden, this first English–language edition printed in Italy on thick cream paper offers an immersive experience of transformation, longing, and transcendence to readers of all ages, while reminding adult readers in particular of the everyday miracle contained in encountering another consciousness.

'Weshalb will man nicht mehr leben, wenn es doch Hunde und Schmetterlinge und den Himmel gibt? Wie kann einer nicht länger leben wollen, wenn es doch mich gibt? Niemand weiß darauf eine Antwort, es ist einfach so.' Eines Tages ist Zoes Vater verschwunden. Sie erfährt, dass er krank geworden ist und für längere Zeit in eine psychiatrische Klinik muss. Sie besucht ihn mit ihrer Mutter, aber bald sagt er, dass er keine Besuche vertragen kann und allein sein muss. Zoe kommt trotzdem, und während sie darauf wartet, dass es ihrem Vater besser geht, lernt sie die Schwimmerin Sabina kennen, die ihre Freundin wird. Tauchsommer nimmt die Position eines Kindes ein und erzählt aus dieser Perspektive die Geschichte der verlorenen Lebensfreude des Vaters und der eigenen Sehnsucht nach Nähe. Gleichzeitig handelt der Text von der Kraft des Traums und der Fantasie. Die Themenwelten Depression und Mentale Gesundheit werden empathisch, angemessen und gleichzeitig mit Humor behandelt. Empfehlung der LUCHS-JuryIn der New York Times auf der Liste Bestes Buch 2022White Raven Award 2020Nominiert für den August Preis 2019, dem angesehensten Literaturpreis SchwedensBilderbuch des Monats beim Bremer Institut für BilderbuchforschungLeselotse

È notte quando Jim viene trovato nella neve vicino all'autostrada per l'aeroporto e condotto a Beckomberga, l'ospedale psichiatrico a qualche chilometro da Stoccolma grande quanto una piccola città. Non uscirà per molto tempo, così tanto che la figlia Jackie crescerà e trascorrerà una lunga parte dell'adolescenza dietro la recinzione dell'edificio, tra medici anticonformisti e pazienti dalla seducente follia. Medici come il dottor Edvard Winterson, convinto che l'unico modo per rendere di nuovo umani i malati sia farli uscire la notte, dare loro vestiti civili e un bicchiere di vino, mandandoli incontro alla vita fuori dai cancelli sorvegliati. Pazienti come la scatenata e bellissima Sabina che fa innamorare tutti, ossessione irresistibile di sani e malati. A raccontare la storia di Beckomberga, della Svezia negli anni del welfare state, del rapporto fragile e mai univoco tra salute e malattia, è Jackie. Racconta con l'occhio della bambina che a lungo ha giocato nei prati dell'ospedale dove suo padre era ricoverato perché niente, nemmeno lei, era abbastanza forte da tenerlo ancorato alla realtà. Racconta con l'incertezza dell'adolescente che nel manicomio si è innamorata e della donna adulta che ora cresce il proprio figlio da sola tenendo la malattia e suo padre a una distanza insieme intima e circospetta.