CLOUDBERRY MIRE (HJORTRONMYREN)

Awarded second prize in Book of the Year 2025

Cloudberry Mire is an epic love story set in the magnificent forests of Sweden, with a dual timeline in the 1930s as well as the present-day, that highlights forgotten female heroes and climate issues spanning generations. This is the first in a trilogy, inspired by the author’s own family history.

Cloudberry Mire unfolds in two parallel timelines, following the seventeen-year-old Siv, who works as a female cook in a forest cabin in northern Sweden in the late 1930s, and her granddaughter Eva, who works for a logging company in the present day.

In 1938, Siv stands outside the door of the cabin where she will live for the next few months. Her dream of becoming a teacher has been dashed by her family’s financial problems, and what awaits her is a job as a cook serving ten men in the forestry industry, in the same small cabing until late spring. Deep in the forest, in severe cold, she must wash the dishes, fetch firewood and water, keep the cabin warm and clean and put food on the table for ten men. But far from becoming a negative experience, her job turns into a transformative experience where both liberation and the love of her life await.

More than eighty years later, in 2022, Eva is sent by the forestry company where she works to negotiate with environmentalists and local Sámi communities, who are opposing planned logging in Djupsele, the place where her grandmother Siv, from whom she inherited land, once lived. Eva is the first to think she can use her local knowledge to the company’s advantage and obtain permission to cut trees in the area, but she soon begins to receive threats that go beyond the expected protests. As tensions escalate, Eva must confront the media, environmental activists, and the Sámi village, but in the wake of the conflict. At the same time, Eva reconnects with people she hasn’t seen in a long time, who lead her to retrace her family history, leading to a completely unexpected discovery that will change her profoundly.

Cloudberry Mire, based on a true story, marks the beginning of a series of novels where women take centre stage in the narrative of the magnificent Swedish forest, and the conflicts surrounding it, both on the personal as well as global level. The second instalment, Pale Soil unfolds in the late 1940s, and the third, Heartwood, in the late 1950s. Centring women’s lives and labour, the trilogy explores the magnificent Swedish forest and the conflicts, secrets, and loyalties rooted within it.

The first two books in the ‘Woodland series’ have sold over 90,000 copies in Sweden alone.

408 pages

Rights

Denmark: Alpha
Finland: Otava
France: Buchet Chastel
Germany: Gutkind
Italy: Corbaccio
Netherlands: Uitgeverij Mozaïek
Norway: Aschehoug
Sweden: Romanus & Selling
Ukraine: One More Page Publishing Group

REVIEWS

“I enjoy the story’s many nuanced character portraits – and I am impressed that the novelist does not shy away from depicting female erotic desire. Then. Now.”
Västerbottens-Kuriren / SWE

“It is interesting to read the chapters about Siv that offers a credible and sensitive portrayal of a completely different era with limited freedom for women. The subject of media-trained forestry companies and upset environmental activists also feels very relevant. …a delicate love story that manages to provide an impressively wide range of perspectives on the Swedish forestry debate.”
Upsala Nya Tidning / SWE

“The portraits are beautiful, deep, and empathetic, and the characters effectively convey the reasoning and worldview of the different generations and groups: what constitutes a time, an era… The question of who has the right to the land is not only a burning issue in the Middle East but also in northern Sweden, and the book, along with the upcoming parts of the series, is, of course, particularly relevant for us living here in the north. Where the forest, with all its resources and conflicts, represents the past, the present, and the future.”
Sundsvalls Tidning / SWE

“Three generations’ differing relationships with the forest are at the heart of Ulrika Lagerlöf’s enchanting novel Lakkasuo. Ulrika Lagerlöf has crafted a truly delightful reading experience – and we eagerly await the continuation.”
Kansan Uutiset / FI

“Lagerlöf demonstrates great strength and skill in her depictions of the northern landscapes, woodlands and there atmosphere. The mood is striking, and the present-day setting in the novel feels entirely believable. The dialogue is authentic and engaging, moving the story along with ease. The novel’s dual timelines both explore the forest as both a source and a resource. The Sámi people’s rights to the land and forest use also emerge as a key issue. The book feels thematically timely and will definitely resonate with Finnish readers as well.”
Savon Sanomat / FI

“Lakkasuo is a wonderful book that could easily be turned into a touching film. While reading, I grew deeply attached to both Siv and Eva. Their lives are portrayed with such emotion that I’m already looking forward to our next encounter.”
Kotivinkki / FI