Secrets of the Past: Johana Gustawsson & Kang Hwagil

About

Join us for a compelling conversation on the darker edges of the human experience, with international masters of suspense Johana Gustawsson and Kang Hwagil. Gustawsson presents the second book in her Lidingö Mysteries series, Scars of Silence, a tense psychological thriller that delves into the lingering impact of the past, when a long-buried secret holds the key to a deeper, darker mystery. Kang presents Another Person, a thought-provoking novel told through alternating viewpoints, exploring questions of identity, perception, and the unsettling possibility of living a life that may not be entirely one’s own.

Scars of Silence

Twenty-three years ago, a young woman was murdered on the Swedish island of Lidingö. The island has kept its silence. Until now… As autumn deepens into darkness in Lidingö, on the Stockholm archipelago, the island is plunged into chaos: in the space of a week, two teenaged boys are murdered. Their bodies are left deep in the forest, dressed in white tunics with crowns of candles on their heads, like offerings to Saint Lucia.

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Another Person

A compulsively readable and razor-sharp campus novel about the impact of power and consent in a university setting Perfect for fans of Cho Nam-joo, I May Destroy You, and If We Were Villains by M. L.

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Johana Gustawsson

Born in Marseille, Johana Gustawsson's Roy & Castells series – Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song – won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards and is published in 26 countries. The Bleeding was a No. 1 bestseller in France and Yule Island won Book of the Year with France’s biggest retailer, Cultura. Scars of Silence won the prestigious Maison de la Press Award in 2025, and the same year Johana teamed up with Norwegian crime-writer Thomas Enger, to write the international bestselling mystery, SON.

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Kang Hwagil

Kang Hwagil is one of South Korea’s new group of ‘young feminists’. Her writing has received numerous accolades, most recently the 2020 Munhakdongne Young Writers’ Award for short story Eumbok.

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