The Things We Leave Behind: a dual timeline, literary thriller set in Sweden

by Cecilia Sjögren, Saga Egmont (Translator)

On a wind-stilled bay in Roslagen, Sweden, the Ömheten care home rests where sea meets pine-scented air. After a resident's death, Tore Lindahl, a former policeman, suspects foul play, but his concerns are dismissed as the ramblings of an old man.

Lindhahl turns to Veronika Wiklund, a young journalist stuck tracing small-town stories for the local paper. Together, the unlikely duo begins asking questions that unsettle their entire community.

As Veronika searches for answers, the care home reveals itself as the battleground for power, and the hunting ground for a killer tangled in dark legacies of World War II.

Gripping and moving, Cecilia Sjögren's 'The Things We Leave Behind' is a story of memory, grief, and guilt that echoes across decades. As the past collides with the present, it what do we owe the dead, and at what cost do we unearth what they left behind?

Fans of 'The God of the Woods' by Liz Moore will love this atmospheric Swedish crime novel.

567 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 27, 2025

Reviews

[Jazzy Nowlan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting concept!!
It took awhile for me to really grasp what was going on and truly grip my attention.

The twist in the end and the connection between characters was great… it just had so much unnecessary info in the middle… stopping it from being great!

[Helena · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to listen to this book as an audiobook and I just couldn't get through it. I found it super difficult to follow. so many characters and I would imagine the two timelines will eventually make sense as to how they are related but I got through like 75% of the book and I just couldn't keep going.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf. it was an eighteen hour audiobook, and I made it four hours.I just couldn't follow the plot lines between the forties and current day period

[Husna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️