Five Facts
The Inspiration for Yule Island
Johana Gustawsson
- A secluded Swedish island: A dear friend of mine came to see me as I was unpacking my boxes in my new Swedish home and she said to me: ‘Johana, I’ve come here with best reasons why you should write about the Swedish east coast. Just down the beach, five minutes by boat from here, there’s a small pedestrian island home to just over 250 inhabitants and it has its own haunted mansion.’ And the first seed of Yule Island was planted.
- A haunted house: While doing some research, I discovered that this haunted mansion located in the heart of the pedestrian island of Storholmen, was built at the beginning of the 20th century by Gunnar Kassman, a wealthy Swedish banker who reminded me of the Great Gatsby, as he and his wife organised lavish parties for the Stockholm elite in their magnificent residence, which, legend says, is now haunted by the late Mrs Kassman. And there seems to be some truth to this story.
- A pirate treasure-hunt gone wrong: The former owner of my own home on the island of Lidingö, east of Stockholm, had left some furniture, including a magnificent 17th-century dressing table with a set of silver brushes. While I was unpacking, Alexander, one of my twin boys, dressed as a pirate, dropped one of the brushes. A friend of mine, who was helping us move in, picked it up and handed it to Alex, saying: ‘I don’t think there’s a treasure map in there… but maybe an SOS?’ And another crucial element of Yule Island was born. What kind of SOS…? A message from the past?
- Viking rites: Having been fascinated by Greek and Roman mythology from a very early age, writing about Sweden drew me into the cauldron of Norse myths and Viking legends. And it was while reading an article about the ‘draugr’, the undead who refuse to rest in their graves, that a large part of the puzzle within the pages of Yule Island took shape.
- A cameo: A body is found in the frozen sea of a bay located in the north of Lidingö Island, opposite Yule Island. My house makes a cameo in this scene: it’s the green and red house that one of the bathing grandmothers talks about.
Yule Island, by Johana Gustawsson, translated by David Warriner, is out today in paperback. Signed copies are available from your favourite bookshop!
