Review of The Colony by Annika Norlin

Norlin draws the reader into the eerie heart of a small group living sequestered in the Swedish forest as they gradually fall into strictly prescribed roles, adhere to limitations, remain off the grid, and push down their own desires in order to follow the charismatic Sara--until an outsider shakes up all they have come to believe.

They were all strange. They were all flawed. Together, they managed to survive. They each had something that benefited the others.

In Annika Norlin' novel The Colony, Emelie is looking for an escape from her bustling city life in Sweden and takes to the woods for a few days. She settles into the peaceful patterns of nature and camping near where her grandmother once lived.

She spies from a distance the comings and goings of a group of seven people, some young and some older--hugging trees, singing in a circle, and playing seemingly strictly prescribed roles within the group.

They are led by the charismatic Sara, and when Emelie meets the group, her entrance into the dynamic stirs up questions, disturbances, long-held resentments, and wonder about the outside world, all of which threaten to destroy the isolated colony they've evolved into over a period of years.

Norlin immerses the reader into the cloistered world of seven, each of whom is hiding from something, seeking meaning, or both. They find peace and loyalty together, and part of what they first shape for each other is safety and affection. With Sara setting the tone and delineating roles and limits, each member of the group gradually subsumes their own desires, hopes, and assertions under what is said to be best for the group.

Only when Emelie arrives--asking questions, becoming curious, then getting drunk and speaking frankly and critically--do the other members of the group begin to challenge the status quo. Her perspective forces each person to face the truth of what is missing from their lives and to resent or challenge Sara's authority. Sara herself seeks a sign that they are following the right path, as though falling eerily under her own spell and believing herself capable of otherworldly understanding and ability.

The scenes that take place late in the book are surprising and arresting, centering around a dramatic power shift and, ultimately, characters' newfound abilities to explore the world again, with wonder instead of fear.

This is Annika Norlin's first novel.

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