Swedish Woman's Life as Nazi Mascot: A Novel Falls Short

A new biographical novel, "Omöjlig i det jordiska" by Ann Edliden, attempts to shed light on the life of Carin von Fock, a Swedish woman who married Hermann Göring, the future Reichsmarschall of Nazi Germany. The book's premise is intriguing: exploring what a woman from the Swedish upper class saw in Göring and what she missed before her death in 1931, prior to the full horrors of World War II and the Holocaust.

However, the review in Dagens Nyheter is largely critical, suggesting the novel leaves much to be desired. While acknowledging Edliden's research into letters and biographies, the reviewer finds that the author "talks about things for us and presents facts, but it does not become literature because of it." The novel touches upon the Görings' political involvement in the 1920s, noting that Carin's family, like many at the time, were spiritualists and sympathetic to Germany's recovery after the Treaty of Versailles. The review points out that antisemitism was common, and Hitler, though then a minor political figure, was gaining traction.

The reviewer highlights that Carin Göring died before the Nuremberg Laws and the November Pogrom, and before Hitler's rise to absolute power. This temporal distance raises questions about what Carin could and could not have known or seen. The novel's ambition to cover Carin Göring's life is noted, but the execution is found wanting, failing to transform historical facts into compelling literature. The review concludes that the book, despite its potential, does not live up to its promise, particularly when compared to a glowing review from Bibliotekstjänst.