Features

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES — Every year brings an avalanche of lists about pop culture — best films, best books, best albums. Attempting to define a decade in the world of entertainment is, at best, daunting.

But hey, we are going to give it a try.

Here are some of the key trends that emerged in the 2010s in television, film and music, from the explosion of scripted series to a new generation of divas whose empires transcend the concert stage.

Generation streaming

At the start of 2010, music platform Spotify had less than 1 million subscribers, Netflix had a little over 12 million, and streaming services were more of a curiosity than anything else.

Ten years on, Spotify has 248 million users and Netflix has more than 158 million.

Streaming is the new normal: the worlds of television, film and music have been transformed by the emergence of this new way to consume content. Everything is available, all the time.

Careers can be made — or can unravel — on these platforms. Buying CDs? So last decade. 

YouTube has a paramount place in the new entertainment landscape. For Generation Z, the post-millennials, it is the place to go to discover the hottest new talent.

The evolution of Internet technology has allowed for streaming en masse — impossible a decade ago.

The seismic changes also have revolutionised the video game industry, with multi-player games such as Fortnite exploding thanks to streaming capabilities and helped boost e-sports.

Users have largely abandoned their desktops and television sets — smartphones and tablets are now what many people use to listen to music, watch films or read the news.

As the United States slowly unfurls its 5G network, users should have even less reason to leave the couch — and their phones.

Peak TV: a bingefest

Once upon a time, there was appointment TV: shows like “Seinfeld” that US viewers watched at the same time so they could discuss it the next day. If you lived abroad, you had to wait.

Now, more and more people are cutting the cord, and DVRs are on the way out.

The streaming boom, and the gradual shift away from traditional networks and broadcast schedules, means that television has finally gone global.

Out: the agonising week-long wait for a new episode. In: binge-watching your favourite shows when Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and others dump an entire series in one go.

The competition between old-school networks, cable channels and online giants to land top talent — and big budgets — yielded a decade of hits, and hundreds of new shows a year. 

“Game of Thrones”, which began in 2011 and wrapped up earlier this year, was perhaps the cultural touchstone of the decade. 

The blood-spattered, sex-fuelled saga of the battle for the Iron Throne captivated the masses, raked in awards and spawned an industry of set tours, merchandise and conventions.

But if fantasy epics are not your thing, there was TV for everyone in the 2010s: drama fans craved the edgy darkness of “Breaking Bad” and the dystopian terror of “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

On the comedy side, viewers loved the zany, diverse “Modern Family”, the madcap politics of “Veep” and the technicolor sass of “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”.

All hail Disney

While Walt Disney Pictures was little more than a twinkle in a struggling animator’s eye, Golden Age Hollywood was famously ruled by the “Big Five” studios. Look at box office figures today, and it might as well be the Big One. 

Nearly one in three domestic movie theatre dollars this year have gone straight into the deep pockets of Disney, which has sailed past a staggering $10 billion globally for 2019.

The landmark, set even before “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” hits theatres at year’s end, breaks the previous annual record of $7.6 billion posted in 2016 by... Disney. 

This has happened in part because CEO Bob Iger has spent the past decade on a multi-billion-dollar buying spree that reads like an overexcited child’s wildest daydream. 

After acquiring Marvel in 2009 and sending its superheroes out to raid box offices for the next decade, he added Lucasfilm (read: “Star Wars”) in 2012, and Fox this year — the addition of its “X-Men” and James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequels means the Mouse House’s world domination is only likely to grow.

On top of that, Disney has raided its own back catalog for a series of nostalgic and highly lucrative “live-action” remakes, from “The Jungle Book” to “Aladdin”. 

And Disney even found time to create a rare original phenomenon — the unstoppable “Frozen” films.

For Paul Degarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore, it has been a “truly astonishing decade for the company”.

Strides in diversity

The runaway success of “Old Town Road” — a country-rap mash-up by a gay black teenager from Atlanta now known globally as Lil Nas X — capped a decade that saw strides for diversity across the entertainment industry.

The record-breaking earworm made waves in the typically white world of country music, as South Korea’s K-Pop captivated the globe — and topped the charts.

The 2012 smash hit “Gangnam Style” fuelled a global “horse dance” craze — the ubiquitous cultural moment of that year.

Latin America’s booming reggaeton and trap genres also made a splash in the 2010s — megahit “Despacito” (2017) remains the top-viewed clip on YouTube with more than 6.5 billion views.

In television, Amazon’s pioneering show “Transparent” forever changed how transgender people are portrayed on screen, while in film, Marvel’s groundbreaking superhero blockbuster “Black Panther” reinvented the genre with its mainly black cast.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which doles out the Oscars, moved to diversify its membership and voting body, in the wake of the none-too-flattering #OscarsTooWhite movement.

The Recording Academy saw its Grammy nominees slate grow increasingly more diverse and took steps to highlight female artists — it too suffered from criticism that the gala was too white and too male.

The new music moguls

In the world of pop music, it’s not enough anymore to have a booming, multi-octave range like Mariah Carey — you also need to run a fashion house, sell cosmetics or direct a feature film.

Beyonce is the diva of the decade, taking Coachella by storm, starring in a reboot of “The Lion King”, blazing across concert stages with husband Jay-Z — and performing twice at the Super Bowl in the 2010s.

But she also runs her own activewear brand, Ivy Park, which has been relaunched in collaboration with Adidas. Her music album-film “Lemonade” earned widespread acclaim. She directed a documentary about her show-stopping Coachella set.

“The more I mature, the more I understand my value,” she said in a Q&A published this month by Elle magazine. “My true win is creating art and a legacy that will live far beyond me.”

This is the new model for a generation of music superstars.

Rihanna has consistently topped the charts, but the 31-year-old Barbados native also has made a fortune from her makeup and lingerie lines. This year, she launched a luxury fashion label with French powerhouse LVMH.

Songstress Taylor Swift has swept up 10 Grammy awards since 2010 with chart-topping albums like “Speak Now” and “1989.” She released multiple perfumes, has an array of product endorsement deals and battled her former label for control of her master recordings.

Lady Gaga went on tour with Tony Bennett to sing jazz standards, starred in “American Horror Story”, launched vegan makeup line Haus Laboratories and wowed audiences with “A Star Is Born”, winning an Oscar for best original song.

All of the above have estimated net worths of more than $300 million. 

All hail the new Renaissance women of music.

By Susan Stumme, Maggy Donaldson, Thomas Urbain and Andrew Marszal

We tend to classify them all together, but winter vegetables are not always the same as root vegetables. Nevertheless, these veggies deserve our attention during these cold winter months.

Take Brussels sprouts, a veggie you either adore or abhor. These hardy vegetables that look like baby cabbages on stalks belong to the cruciferous family — best known for their anti-inflammatory and cancer-fighting effects. Brussels sprouts are extremely low in calories (about 25 per half cup) and are rich in antioxidant vitamins A and C. Brussels sprouts also provide vitamin K which benefits our bones and keeps our heart happy.

One holiday, my sister-in-law cut them in half, tossed them in a little olive oil, seasoned and roasted them in the oven until they were brown and crispy around the edges. When I saw how everyone gobbled them up (even the kids), this has been my go-to recipe for Brussels sprouts. 

Potatoes and sweet potatoes are root and winter vegetables — they grow underground and they are more available this time of year. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are also starchy vegetables; they provide more carbohydrates and calories than non-starchy veggies. But that does not mean they are completely off the table for people with diabetes. Small servings of baked or roasted potatoes with the skin are healthful choices. 

Potatoes also contain more nutrients than we may realise… if we enjoy them as close to their whole state as possible. White potatoes, for example, provide protein, iron, vitamin C and potassium. And they contain resistant starch which feeds the good bacteria in our guts that can help control blood sugars. By virtue of their dark orange flesh, sweet potatoes are rich in antioxidant nutrients that help fight off all the ills of modern society or at least certain chronic diseases. 

Finally there’s winter squash which differs from summer squash in that it has a hard outer shell that opens to vibrant yellow or orange flesh. Two of my favourites are butternut and spaghetti squash.

Rich in dietary fibber and antioxidant nutrients, winter squash is so yummy when baked or roasted. Hardest thing about these vegetables is how to cut through the hard shell without cutting off your hand. Try this: Trim off the ends of the shell and place the whole squash in the microwave for about two to three minutes to soften the shell before you start to cut.

By Barbara Quinn

The myth of the first three years has it that whatever habits, traits, dysfunctions and so on that a child develops during this admittedly formative period are going to stay with him for life. That is not necessarily so. For example, Romanian orphans that had suffered severe emotional and physical neglect during infancy and toddlerhood recovered fully after being placed with American families. When put in playgroups with American-born kids who were living with biological parents, they could not be identified reliably. The adoption-babblers have a difficult time explaining that, by the way.

Nonetheless, the third birthday is a parenting “hump” of sorts. Pre-1960s parents understood that the so-called “terrible twos” were just that: to wit, an eighteen-month developmental period (roughly between eighteen and thirty-six months) marked by tantrums, defiance, violent outbursts and other anti-social behaviours. During this same period, it is essential that effective disciplinary precedents be set such that the terrible twos do not become the terrifying threes, frightful fours, fearsome fives, shocking sixes and so on (the nauseating nineteens?).

Behaviour problems not resolved by the third birthday (or thereabouts) are going to be increasingly challenging for both parents and child. The parents are now behind the curve concerning the discipline of the child, and the further behind the curve they fall, the more difficult it will be for them to establish their authority. For the child, the further and faster the proverbial snowball of his misbehaviour rolls downhill, the more havoc it plays with his emotional health. Good research confirms what common sense verifies: Disobedient kids are not happy campers.

Parents who come to me for help saying, “My kid is driving me crazy” want me to fix the problem for their benefit, to prevent them further emotional toll. But the emotional toll of the problem is being visited primarily upon the child. He’s being denied the right to a happy childhood by parents who love him deeply but don’t understand that –– to employ a paraphrase –– children do not thrive on love alone. Children need authority. They benefit greatly from having to accept that what their parents tell them to do, they must do, not because of reward or punishment, but simply because the Big People say so.

“Does that mean, John,” a mother recently asked, “that I shouldn’t give my teenager reasons for my decisions and instructions?” 

A child’s age does not determine when it’s time for parents to begin explaining themselves. The prerequisite to explanation is obedience. You cannot explain a child into obedience, but once obedience has taken root and is flourishing, you can venture the occasional explanation. I say occasional because obedient children do not generally ask for explanations. They are content without them; besides, they’re usually able to figure them out on their own.

A parent’s love should be big and unconditional, but if it isn’t balanced with equally BIG, unambiguous authority, it’s most accurately termed enabling codependence. Likewise, if authority is big but love is weak and small, authority isn’t authority at all; it’s abuse of one form or another.

The “trick” of this is letting the monster-in-the-making know, early on, when the monster first makes its appearance, that he will not be allowed to let his dark side rule either himself or the people he lives with. The formula can be expressed this simply: The child never gets anything even close to what he wants when he misbehaves; rather, when he lets his monster off the leash, he loses things he doesn’t want to lose for memorable stretches of time. A child’s covetous nature can be used to everyone’s advantage.

Some children get it quickly. Others, not so much. Which is why a sense of humour always helps.

By John Rosemond

Harking back to Fiat’s most iconic and tiny post-war people’s car, the modern retro-inspired 500 was launched at the height of the retro movement in automotive design back in 2007. Italy’s riposte to the modern Mini and Volkswagen Beetle, the 500 has become Fiat’s mainstay model, inspiring a range of spin-offs and performance versions, courtesy of Fiat’s Abarth performance subsidiary. 

Introduced under the Abarth brand since 2012, hot 500-based models, include the 595C Turismo convertible hot hatch, which sits just below the range-toping 695 versions, and also include more track-focused variations.

Feisty and fun

With retro-cool looks, compact size, two-tone paint, ragtop roof, sprightly performance and perky handling the Abarth 595C Turismo’s middle name may as well be “fun”. The open-roof version of the second most powerful derivative of Fiat’s 500 line, the 595C Turismo has had quite a few colourful 500 range sister models over the years, including cheeky and quick Ferrari and Maserati tributes, and racier 177BHP Abarth 695 versions. A host of special editions for the garden variety Fiat 500 have also included, but aren’t limited to, Comics, Vintage, GQ, Jeans, Gucci and even Barbie themes.

The more road and touring oriented Abarth 595 version, the feisty and fun 595C Turismo’s rounded retro-chic proportions and design contrast with an assertively sporty front bumper with big intake, front and rear side vents, defined side skirts, dual exhausts, top spoiler and 17-inch alloy wheels. 

Badged Abarth rather than Fiat, the brand’s distinctive scorpion features front, rear and by the door handles to underline its sporty character, while contrasting two-tone paint is playfully elegant. With a space-saving peel-back fabric roof centre, the 595C offers airy open-top driving, but with roof-like security and stiffness.

Petite and prodigious

Mildly updated in 2016 with slightly more aggressive styling and a modest 5BHP power increase the 595C Turismo packs a petite but prodigious turbocharged 1.4-litre 4-cylinder engine putting out 158BHP at 5,500rpm. Weighing in at 1075kg the relatively lightweight 595C Turismo is brisk and lively for fun driving and to safely move out of harm’s way or join fast highways, but is not overwhelmingly fast. 

Developing 170lb/ft torque at 3,000rpm, the 595C Turismo doesn’t always need to be cranked to its’ redline but is flexible and eagerly responsive in daily drive mid-range engine speeds.

Quick on its feet and capable of accelerating from standstill to 100km/h in 7.3-seconds and onto a 218km/h top speed, the frugal Fiat also returns now improved 6l/100kmfuel combined cycle fuel consumption. 

Meanwhile, the 595C’s 5-speed manual gear lever is set high and near the steering for quick shifts and minimal distraction. Positioned conveniently, the gear lever has a soft and damped rather than clicky mechanical action, while its clutch pedal is light. Expectedly manoeuvrable, the tiny 595C Turismo is, however, more stable and settled through fast sweeping bends and in a straight line than anticipated.

Zippy and zesty

A zesty hot version of Fiat’s much-loved city runaround, the 595C Turismo is easy to manoeuvre and with a chunky, sporty flat-bottom steering that falls nicely to hand, it is ideal for both busy city streets and narrow country lanes. Easy to park with its small size, decent visibility, quick steering and tight turning circle, the Turismo is at its best zipping through tight corners. 

Its ride is firm and slightly bouncy over imperfections, but has enough forgiveness to keep it from being a chore. Meanwhile, its ventilated front and solid rear disc brakes provide reassuring stopping ability.

Darty, responsive and agile handling the 595C Turismo turns on the proverbial coin, whether on city or country roads, or on track. Turning in tidily with quick steering and tight turning circle, the 595C Turismo contains body lean well, but with tall, narrow and upright design and seating, one, however, perceives it more noticeably. Perched on high-set seats and with excellent visibility, one feels in command and can place the 595C Turismo easily on road. The downside of the high position is a greater perception of lean than there actually is through tight hard corners.

Small and stylish

Agile, responsive and brisk, the 595C Turismo is a car that helps avoid dangerous and awkward situations on the road from, while with its’ framed roofline and peel-back fabric convertible design leaves one feeling less exposed compared to a traditional full convertible design. 

While its nimble agility counts in its favour as means of avoidance in terms of safety, the 595C Turismo’s safety equipment meanwhile includes airbags, stability control, all-round ventilated ABS disc brakes and more. Inside, the 595C Turismo is busy but stylish and user-friendly with comfortable supportive front seats and adjustable steering height.

Easily accessible through big wide doors, the tall and narrow 595C Tursimo provides good headroom, while shoulder width is adequate, if not generous. Rear seat size and 185-litre luggage volume is accommodating for such a small open-top four-seater, while. Featuring leather seats and steering wheel and body coloured dashboard trim, the 595C Turismo also comes with tinted rear windows and 17-inch alloy wheels. 

Standard equipment also includes 5-inch infotainment screen, steering wheel controls, adjustable rear head rests, climate control and two-mode electric steering system with a ”sport” setting.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Engine: 1.4-litre, 16-valve, turbocharged transverse 4-cylinders
• Bore x stroke: 72 x 84mm
• Compression ratio: 9:1
• Gearbox: 5-speed manual, front-wheel-drive
• Gear ratios: 1st 3.909; 2nd 2.238; 3rd 1.52; 4th 1.156; 5th 0.872; R 3.909
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 162 (165) [121] @ 5,500rpm
• Specific power: 118.4BHP/litre
• Power -to-weight ratio: 150.7BHP/tonne
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 170 (230) @ 3,000rpm
• Specific torque: 168.1Nm/litre
• Torque-to-weight ratio: 214Nm/tonne
• 0-100 km/h: 7.3-seconds
• Top speed: 218km/h
• Fuel economy, urban/extra-urban/combined:
• 7.9/4.9/6-litres/100km
• CO2 emissions, combined: 139g/km
• Fuel capacity: 35-litres
• Length: 3,660mm
• Width: 1,627mm
• Height: 1,485mm
• Wheelbase: 2,300mm
• Track, F/R: 1,415/1,408mm
• Overhang, F/R: 770/590mm
• Boot capacity: 185-litres
• Weight: 1,075kg
• Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/torsion beam, anti-roll bars
• Steering: Electric assistance, rack & pinion
• Brakes: Drilled, ventilated discs, 284 x 22mm/discs, 240 x 11mm
• Tyres: 205/40R17

width

CHICAGO — Christopher Lee was 15 years old when he was shot May 14, 2016, while on his bike outside his home. He was shot in the back, arm and chest, and was in the hospital for six days, where he had two surgeries in addition to staples and stitches. To this day, he said, he still has a bullet in his chest.

And he’s still not over the shooting. The 18-year-old doesn’t play basketball in parks anymore — only in gyms. Taking the CTA makes him nervous. And when friends invite Lee to a party, he declines.

“I definitely say no to those,” he said. “People shoot up house parties. I’d rather stay home and watch TV or something.”

Lee’s experience of isolation after a violent incident is not unusual, according to two recent University of Chicago studies co-authored by University of Chicago Medicine social epidemiologist Dr Elizabeth Tung.

In a study that looks at social isolation, loneliness and exposure to violence in urban adults, data show that the more violence people experienced in their own community, the lonelier they were likely to be. The greatest loneliness was found among people who were exposed to community violence and who screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Couple that information with the fact that loneliness is a growing health concern in the nation, and it would appear that violence that leads to loneliness can also lead to higher mortality, Tung said.

“Throughout the course of talking with patients, I started hearing patients tell me that they didn’t want to join a walking group because they were afraid to walk in their neighbourhood,” she said. “Some of my older patients would say they don’t like to go out after dark, so pretty much once the sun goes down, they feel like they’re kind of landlocked in their homes. I started to hear all these ways violence is making it hard for them to manage their health, get out and be active in their communities.”

Conversations between patient and physician developed into in-person surveys of more than 500 adults (ages 18 to 80; most 50 and older), living in communities with high rates of violent crime, and in predominantly racial and ethnic minority groups.

Tung’s other study revealed data that connected hypervigilance (a heightened emotional state of always feeling on guard) among urban residents affected by community and police violence with chronic health conditions like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, memory impairment and anxiety disorders.

The study found a strong association between hypervigilance and exposure to police violence, more than community violence. Tung, the principal investigator of the studies, said living in areas where violence is prevalent, and being in continual “fight or flight” mode takes years off a person’s life.

“We were really interested in the blood pressure results for hypervigilance because there is a known link to fight or flight,” Tung said. “We actually did see people who scored higher on hypervigilance also had higher systolic blood pressure measurements. And the effects weren’t small — essentially the people in the highest group for hypervigilance had a higher systolic blood pressure by about 9mm mercury, which is proportional to the increase in other studies where we see almost a 50 per cent greater risk of death from heart disease or stroke.”

The results of the study were published in the policy journal Health Affairs.

Tung said the results hold regardless of age.

Stephanie Steele, a licensed clinical social worker who divides her time between students at Marshall Metro High School and at Collins Academy High School in Chicago’s West Side, has seen the effects of Tung’s studies in real time with her students.

She said she constantly encourages students to do mindfulness activities and meditation to help with the issues of isolation and hypervigilance.

“It definitely takes a physical toll on their bodies and an emotional toll on them,” she said.

“But no matter what trauma work I do with students, it’s still a Band-Aid because they still continue to go through it. I think it’s definitely a symptom of PTSD, but also it comes from distrust. To witness the things that our students witness, the violence from the police, the violence from the community, what one human being is capable of doing to another human being, I think it causes a very large distrust.”

Tung’s research will continue. She said she wants her data to be shared in mental health areas, but also with primary care doctors, emergency room doctors and inpatient trauma staff, so all can have an understanding of trauma and its multidimensional effects.

As for Lee, he said he’s continuing to deal with the aftermath of his shooting and has had counselling.

“I’m not over it,” he said. “But I’m dealing with it because I can’t stay cooped up. I gotta live a life, but it’s hard because every day I go outside, I feel like I’m going to get killed this time. The first time you got lucky, but the second time you’re going to get killed. And whatever is going on, it’s hard not to feel like that.”

By Darcel Rockett

By Dr Tareq Rasheed

International Consultant and Trainer

When it comes to happiness and success in life, emotional intelligence matters a lot. Here are the five skills to cultivate for your personal and professional development.

One of the most important types of intelligence, which all humans have, is emotional intelligence but in varying degrees. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise other peoples’ emotions as well as understand, use and manage our emotions to guide our thinking and behaviour.

Skills associated with emotional intelligence

1. Self-awareness: We need self-awareness to manage and reduce our fears and insecurities, know what motivates us, set our direction in life and make decisions. Highly self-aware people can easily define their objectives and set their action plans.

2. Managing negative emotions: Negative emotions include anger, worry, fear, boredom, depression and sadness. Rather than allow emotions to control and govern their lives, emotionally intelligent people can effectively manage them. Exercise, sleep and rest are proven ways to help with emotional regulation.

3. Motivating self: Emotionally intelligent persons are self motivated and speak, think and act positively. To motivate yourself, reward yourself for achievements and for even getting yourself through important but dull tasks. Positive self-talk and meditation are also proven ways to stay motivated.

4. Motivating others: The ability to motivate, energise and inspire people is another skill in emotional intelligence. To motivate others, we have to understand their concerns and needs to lead them towards achieving their goals in life. Here some tips for motivating others: 

• Being kind to people; opening our minds and hearts to others

• Seeking to understand first before being understood

• Relating ourselves to the problems and concerns of people

5. Social Skills: Highly emotional people have several social skills that help them affect and influence others:

• Communications

• Convincing

• Conveying emotions to people

• Emotional listening; in which they listen to feeling rather than words; that is, to put ourselves in others’ shoes then acting

• Problem-solving skills

What affects emotional intelligence?

• Age: Since self-awareness comes with maturity, our emotional intelligence increases as a result

• Culture: Some societies and cultures are more emotionally intelligent than others

• Lifestyle: There’s a positive correlation between maintaining a healthy lifestyle and emotional intelligence

• Gender: Females have higher emotional intelligence than males

• Management style: A democratic management style will increase emotional intelligence more than a dictatorship style

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologies

Fredrik Backman

UK: Sceptre, 2016

Pp. 342

Swedish author Fredrik Backman has produced a modern fairy tale, a tantalising combination of realism and fantasy so skilfully interwoven that, in the end, one doesn’t know which is which. But it doesn’t matter. That’s the point: Imagination is a real human capacity, rooted in our physical brains but constantly venturing beyond the boundaries of what is considered real. It is the driving force behind much technological advance as well as art, music, literature and culture generally.

To tell his tale, Backman has created a number of larger-than-life characters, some with mythical overtones. Most prominent are Elsa and her grandmother. At seven years old, Elsa spans the tech and imaginary spheres, having mastered the art of gaining information by googling Wikipedia at an early age and at the same time cherishing magic. Her favourite stories are Harry Potter and the fairy tales told to her by her grandmother. She also loves the superheroes that all children today love, but her favourite superhero is her grandmother, who often does outrageous things and is considered a bit crazy but once was a doctor, “who went to all the most terrible places in the world when everyone else was getting out. She saved lives and fought evil everywhere on earth. As superheroes do… life-saving and driving people nuts are Granny’s superpowers”. (pp. 2-3)

As the story opens, Elsa is in crisis because her grandmother is dying, and Elsa cannot imagine life without her and the magical tales she spins. These are not the usual fairy tales, but an intricate mythology of six kingdoms each devoted to a particular realm: dreams, sorrow, music, courage, the home of warriors and storytelling, the latter being Elsa’s and her grandmother’s favourite. Their fairy tales involve the classic good vs evil battle; the enemy is “the shadows” that want to kill the imagination.

The story centres around a normal Swedish apartment house with seemingly ordinary neighbours, some endearing and some irritating, but as the story progresses, Elsa finds that each of the tenants have a parallel in the magical world, as well as a past with Grandmother. Most have a reason for their current negative or eccentric personalities. The flip side of the fairy tale is deeply human stories that involve the horrors of war and the parent-child relationship thrown off track. As Elsa discovers the real-life counterparts of the fairy tale figures, she becomes wiser and learns that “not all monsters were monsters in the beginning. Some are monsters born of sorrow”. (p. 117)

Yet, a few monsters are irredeemable, and Elsa is threatened by them as she continues uncovering her grandmother’s story. The battle between good and evil in the real world is not over, and this makes for a good deal of suspense and thrilling chases, as well as a few heart-breaking scenes.

Storytelling doubles as the vehicle for the plot, and as therapy and affirmation for those who need healing from devastating experiences. As one character tells Elsa, “this country’s so willing to put billions into weapons and fighter jets, but when those boys come home and they’ve seen [what] they’ve seen, no one can be bothered to listen to them for even five minutes… People have to tell their stories, Elsa. Or else they suffocate”. (p. 288)

This book is very entertaining: Backman’s subtle, sly, typically Scandinavian humour is refreshing and fun. At the same time, the story packs a powerful message against war, cruelty and conformity and for imagination, greater human kindness and forgiveness. Elsa is an unforgettable character.

Sally Bland