Maud lives alone in a spacious apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden. She is 88, and, after a life of hard work teaching and acting as caretaker for her mentally ill sister, she lives exactly how she pleases. And I do mean exactly. That is to say that if someone - anyone - disturbs her pleasant routine, they may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Written in the dry, no-nonsense style I've come to expect from a lot of Scandinavian writers, these little stories almost operate on the realm of moral fantasy. What would it be like to live with no regard whatsoever for others? I suppose I should say I was shocked and appalled. I suspect Maud appeals because most readers have at least a little bit of her inside.
