Travel to Asia in the world of books

Are you curious about Asia but plan to stay in Sweden this winter? Travel to Asia in the world of books! We present 12 fiction books that take you to 12 different Asian countries. Perfect for the sofa on a chilly Swedish winter evening - or why not read on the plane to Asia? Do you have any other tips for fiction books or memoirs set in Asia?

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Bangladesh: Before the river takes us by Helena Thorfinn

I Before the river takes us we take you to Dhaka, Bangladesh. Here you follow two completely different stories, which are intertwined at the end. In one story, you meet the Swedish family Paulin, who are trying to find their way among aid policy, glitter balls and children's parties with hired clowns.

The second story follows impoverished teenage sisters Mina and Nazrin, who flee to Dhaka from their home village to avoid being married off and enslaved by men forty years their senior.

Brunei: harem by Jillian Lauren

I harem follow Jillian, a lost American 18-year-old studying theatre and supporting herself by working as a stripper. Her rootlessness and constant search for thrills leads her to take up a spectacular offer to join Prince Jefri's harem in the salty state of Brunei as a luxury prostitute. 

What is supposed to be two weeks becomes two years. The champagne and gems are flowing in Brunei and Jillian is drawn into a dirty power struggle for the prince's attention.

India: Delhi's most beautiful hands by Mikael Bergstrand

I Delhi's most beautiful hands get to know Göran Borg. His career has stalled, his wife has left him and his hairline is stubbornly climbing. Just when he thinks things can't get any worse, he gets fired, is lured away on a charter trip to India, suffers a terrible bout of diarrhoea and thinks he's going to die in a dingy hotel room in Jaipur. But then Yogi the textile importer - a man in his best and most wonderful years - knocks on the door and life takes a whole new turn for Göran.

Iran: My Iran by Shirin Ebadi

I My Iran Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, tells her story, which largely centres on the lives of women in Iran. Shirin became one of Iran's first female judges, but was demoted to clerk when the post-revolution regime declared women unfit for such positions. 

Eventually, she was authorised to open her own law firm and concentrated on defending human rights, especially for women in politically charged cases.

Israel: Morning in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

Morning in Jenin can be seen as a contribution to the infected Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and as an outside media consumer it is difficult to understand all aspects of it. However, it is not difficult to follow the main character Amal and how her increasingly decimated family makes its way through decades of conflict, war, displacement and refugeeism. An upsetting and bloody, but also warm, book that takes place thoughtfully close in time and space.

Japan: Memoirs of a geisha by Arthur Golden

I Memoirs of a geisha takes you to a world where a girl's virginity is auctioned off to the highest bidder, where women are trained to charm powerful men, and where love is considered an illusion. This is a mesmerising story that takes you to a time and a world far from our own, to the Japan of the geisha.

China: Wild swans by Jung Chang

Wild swans depicts the lives of three generations of women in 20th-century China, during a time that was both violent and changing. By following a family and learning how history affects them in different ways, you get a fantastic insight into China's history. Wild Swans is considered a modern classic and has become a bestseller in over 30 countries with more than 10 million copies in print.

North Korea: Escape from camp 14 by Blaine Harden

I Escape from camp 14 you will be taken to North Korea and the closely guarded prison camps that hold hundreds of thousands of prisoners. American journalist Blaine Harden has written the unlikely story of Shin Dong-hyuk's escape from Camp 14, which eventually took him all the way to South Korea and the United States. 

Born in the prison camp, Shin learns how to survive by giving up his family and friends. He doesn't know that the world is round or what lies beyond the electric fences. It's only when he meets a well-travelled fellow prisoner that he starts making plans to get out...

Pakistan: K2 on life and death by Fredrik Sträng

I K2 on life and death you will experience the kind of adventure that is best experienced in book form, not in real life. Fredrik Sträng talks about the 2008 expedition, when 11 climbers lost their lives. Of course you wonder why they put themselves through this, but it is also fascinating to follow them up the mountain.

Fredrik shares his personal thoughts and takes you through the rigours of the mountain, the dizzying scenery and the camaraderie between teams from different parts of the world. All while inevitably travelling towards the fateful end.

Russia: The Angel of Grozny by Åsne Seierstad

I The Angel of Grozny you will follow Åsne Seierstad, when she, as a 24-year-old newly graduated journalist, hitchhikes on a military plane from Moscow to the war in Chechnya. This is the story of a people who have been deported, slandered and repeatedly deprived of everything. 

The book introduces us to Chechen families where the men have been abducted, the parents of young Chechen terrorists (in the Russian theatre), the parents of young Russian racists who hate Chechens, the Chechen president who organises ice-cream events in his own honour, and the angel of Grozny - the woman who takes care of Chechnya's orphans without asking for anything in return.

Saudi Arabia: Travelling in Sharialand by Tina Thunander

I Travelling in Sharialand follow Tina Thunander from the day she lands in the kingdom, a little lost, and gets a lesson from the Ministry of Information's envoy explaining why women have to cover their legs - because men get horny otherwise. This is a book about a Muslim society, written by a Western woman.

A clear outside perspective, but interesting nonetheless. It is not only Tina's voice that is heard in the book, but above all those who are interviewed: the women at the university, the guest workers, the princes, the learned man who issues fatwas and the former Sharia judge.

Thailand: The first lie by Sara Larsson

The first lie is about rape and men's violence against women, but above all about society's view of violent men and how they are treated by the legal system. This is of course an important topic and you are drawn into the exciting story, which takes place both in the past and present, both in Sweden and in Thailand. I sometimes think that the story is a bit forced and does not reach the end, but it is still worth reading!

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