Here, it was as if summer and winter were intertwined: there was summer in the midst of winter, winter in the midst of summer. Late spring or early summer, so unlike any November I had known before. I could see that it was light, but I had not yet learned to interpret the shades of daylight. I heard the morning paper being tucked into our mailbox just outside the window, which was pulled up an inch or two. His breathing was soft, almost inaudible. He lay on his stomach, arms outstretched, one over the edge of the bed, the other across my chest. While I lay quietly waiting for James to wake up, I pressed my leg against his, absorbing his warmth through my skin.

It was early morning and it was Saturday. The days were warm, but the nights still cool. Veronika It was the first weekend of November and the summer that had never quite ended began again. Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs Linda Olsson I whisper 'Yes' and 'Always', as I lie Waiting for thunder from a stony sky. 'Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs' as plain text

Make sure you understand these words before you read the text. 'Let me tell you when time ended,' she says. In the following excerpt, which is Chapter 26 in the novel, Veronika shares with Astrid the tragic details of her journey to New Zealand to reunite with James, the love of her life. We soon understand that Astrid and Veronika both have suffered great losses in their lives. She rents a house in the countryside and gradually befriends Astrid, a reclusive older woman who has lived in the village all her life. She travels to Sweden to finish the book she is writing. The protagonist of Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs, Veronika, is a writer in her early thirties. Reviewers have commented on her beautiful, idiosyncratic English something that Olsson finds flattering. Although Olsson has Swedish as her mother tongue, the novel was written and published in English. It became an instant success and has been translated into several languages. Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs is her debut novel (2005). Her novels often have Sweden as well as New Zealand as a backdrop. Since then, she has lived in Kenya, Singapore, Britain and Japan, but has been a permanent resident in New Zealand since 1990.

She was, however, born in Stockholm where she studied law and pursued a career in banking until she left Sweden in 1986.

Linda Olsson lives and writes in Auckland, New Zealand.

Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson