Mapped
Doctor Glas
Hjalmar Söderberg
A lonely Stockholm physician keeps a diary through one bright summer as he comes to contemplate murder: to free a young woman, Helga, from the repulsive husband, Pastor Gregorius, who forces himself on her. Söderberg's city is exact and atmospheric: the doctor's consulting rooms in the centre, the Old Town church where the pastor serves, the park island of Djurgården where Glas broods on his walks, and the palace waterfront under the endless northern light.
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Stieg Larsson
Larsson's Stockholm is a city of investigative journalism and cold money, centred on Södermalm: the Millennium magazine on Götgatan, a reporter's attic on Bellmansgatan, a hacker's flat above Mosebacke. From there the story makes one long excursion north, to the invented island of Hedeby in the river country beyond Gävle, and back again to settle scores in the capital's finance world.
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The Red Room
August Strindberg
A young idealist quits a government sinecure to make his own way, and the novel follows him through the newspaper offices, publishers, theatres and bureaus of the capital, sharpening into satire as it goes. The map opens on the heights of Södermalm looking north over the water, crosses to the old-town islands where the officials sit, and comes to rest in the Red Room at Berns, the salon where the young bohemians drink and argue.
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