10 must-read Scandinavian novels

Scandinavian fiction covers a huge range. If you want to get your adrenaline pumping, you can’t do better than to pluck a ‘Nordic noir’ thriller off the shelf; but the writers of Northern Europe seem equally well-suited to quiet reflections on human nature.

Some of the books below are funny, some sad and some terrifying, but they all share an insistence on looking unflinchingly at life as it really is, and telling the truth about human relationships and feelings.