Rating: 
Summary: Good story, disappointing ending.
Review: An "April Witch" is a person with a weak body and strong mind. In this novel, Desiree, born with cerebral palsy to Ella and abandoned to the Swedish welfare state, has strengthened her mind to the point that she is a physicist and is able to communicate by puffing air into a special computer. She is also able to leave her body and inhabit weaker beings in order to see the world that she has been denied by her wasted body. After she abandoned Desiree, Ella took in three foster girls...Margareta, who was abandoned at birth and is now also a physicist, Birgitta, was psycologically abused by her mother and is now an alcoholic and junkie, and Christina, also abused by her mother who is a doctor at the institution where Desiree is housed. After Ella suffers a stroke, the three girls are separated and Desiree believes that one of them is living the life that was destined for her. Throw into the mix that she is also in love with her Dr., Hubertsson who has diabetes and doesn't take care of himself...and that he also knows all about her and her sisters' past. The best parts of the book are the stories of Christina, Margareta, and Birgitta...their characters are fully developed and you really get to understand their lives and how they ended up in the positions they are in as adults. I guess I didn't quite understand this story as we never do find out who is Desiree's "lost life" and the sisters never find out that Desiree exists...I don't think this will spoil the story for you because the it went on with this kind of plot of bringing the sisters together so that Desiree could reveal herself to them, but then it never happens. I was disappinted because I really was enjoying the book and left hanging at the end.
Rating: 
Summary: hidden masterwork
Review: Every now and then I stumble across a book that absolutely captivates me and yet has been either misunderstood or completely ignored by the critics. This is one of those books. There are enough plot synopses elsewhere here to give you some sense of what goes on in the book, but none of them can convey the almost hypnotic attraction of the prose (I can't speak for the original, but the translator seems to have done a masterful job). All I'll add is that the mysterious, inviting cover is the perfect entree to this magical novel. Beyond that, just this: Read it.
Rating: 
Summary: It's True-You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover!
Review: Have you ever walked in to your favorite restaraunt and settled comfortably in your seat, prepared to order your usual dish-only to be tempted by other, less familiar entrees? You debate back and forth between the familiar and that "new kid on the block." The picture is so appealing, not to mention the accompanying description that literally sets your mouth to watering. After some debate, you decide to risk it and you order something that you have never tried before. You wait impatiently for the server to return, anxious and excited to sample this new delicacy. Finally, the moment arrives and the server places a hot, aromatic dish in front of you and you throw caution to the wind and dive right in. Then, you chew. You ponder. You chew some more. It has all the right ingredients, but it has lost something in the preparation. Perhaps the chef should have added a spice here, a seasoning there. Maybe he should have cooked it just a little while longer. You finish the meal, but you have lost some of your furvor in the process. It is just not what you thought it was going to be.
This is how I felt when I read "April Witch". The review in People magazine was enough to make me run out and buy the book, in hardcover no doubt. I started it that evening, but was soon disillusioned. The story line showed great potential, and the characters were certainly developed and memorable. Although it moved along a little too slowly, I stayed with the book because it was "just good enough" that I wanted to finish it. The author, however, left me hanging. I kept waiting for a "climax" that never came. It had "all the right ingredients", but was lacking something. The next time, I'll order my usual.
Rating:
Summary: Deeper Realities
Review: I admit that picked up this book based solely on the gorgeous cover, but it was a marvellous tale of social realities shown through dreams and magic. Desiree, a highly intelligent but severely disabled woman, is able to see the lives of the three women her mother adopted after being coerced into institutionalising her own child. These very different sisters (a doctor, a physicist and an itinerant drug addict) live the lives that Desiree might have had, but it was the dazzling needs and desires of Desiree's own life that most fascinated me. One of the few books I have recently read that fully realised its promise.
Rating: 
Summary: Waste of Time
Review: I did not like this book at all. My curiousity, largely generated from the 4 star reviews, kept me reading. This was a very disappointing read.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of Time
Review: I did not like this book at all. My curiousity, largely generated from the 4 star reviews, kept me reading. This was a very disappointing read.
Rating:
Summary: Original characters
Review: I was browsing through a book store at lunch and this one just happened to be on the shelf with the cover facing forward. I read the cover and maybe the first four pages and then moved on. I couldn't get those four pages out of my mind, so I went back for the book. I was not disappointed. I recommend this book to friends - but not all of them. I can see how it may not be for everyone; but I enjoyed it quite a bit. It wouldn't be a book I would recommend to someone who would be easily offended as there are bit parts of explicit sexuality and some taboo subjects touched upon. I think the social commentary and off-beat characters may be a turn-off for some, but I find those topics and story lines compelling. The social commentary aspect could have easily been heavy-handed, but Axelsson keeps the story true to her characters and doesn't make her critique preachy. The character development in this book was wonderful. The four sisters were complete and interesting and not like other people I know or characters I've run across. That may be because I am American and they are Swedish, but none the less, I found them convincing. That's not to say I would choose them as friends, but I don't require that to enjoy the book. I also liked getting to know a little more about Sweden than where it is on the map. The actual "april witch" aspect was an interesting way to tell all four stories. Christina was my favorite of the sisters, and the part about her x-rays during her time at medical school was a heartbreaker. Actually there were many poignant recollections of the girls growing up (pre and post Ella). I did find it hard to fathom why there wasn't more structure and honesty between the characters, but I think that was probably part of the mess they were in, so to speak. I would have liked to know even more about the characters and their flawed lives. I thought there were parts of the book that were unresolved; parts that weren't fully explained or situations that were somewhat messy - but I think that gave the book a measure of realism - real life isn't scripted and sometimes a happy ending just isn't in the cards. There were also little character traits and interesting situations for the characters that made up for where the book may have fallen shy of the mark. I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another Axelsson book...
Rating:
Summary: Felt strangely drawn to this book at [local store]...
Review: I was wandering around [my local store], and something caught my eye on the "NEW" table. I stopped and looked closer. I noticed that the authors name looked very Swedish, so I picked the book up to see if it indeed was a translation of a Swedish book. After finding out that it was, I stared at the cover for a while, and found it very intriguing. Started reading the flap so I could see what it was about. I got very curious and bought the book. I didn't get around to reading it until some weeks later, I just finished it a couple days ago. It is a wonderful book, very different, sometimes very strange, but still, a beautiful book. I might try to find it in Swedish too (I am Norwegian and understand Swedish very well). Axelsson cites Ray Bradbury's story "April Witch" as an inspiration for this novel. I had of course heard of Ray Bradbury, but was not familiar with "April Witch". I had a feeling that it would help me to read Bradbury's "April Witch" before I stared the Axelsson book. I found Bradbury's "April Witch" in its full length on the Internet. It did not take me long to read at all, since it's a fairly short story. I loved every word of it, though! I would recommend reading it before starting Axelssons book, I really felt that it helped me understand more of it.
I have done extensive Internet searches on "born to the caul" and "benandanti" after finishing it, and have found interesting stuff that I had never heard of before. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Something new
Review: In post-war Sweden, three very different girls find a safe haven with foster-mother Ella. Christina and Birgitta were removed from abusive homes by social workers, and Margareta was abandoned at birth. Little do these girls know that there is a fourth member of their group-Desiree, Ella's severely disabled daughter. Desiree has been institutionalized since birth, suffering from cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Although she cannot speak or move, Desiree is an "April witch," someone with a weak body and a strong mind. She follows the lives of her three "sisters," whom she believes have stolen the life she was supposed to have. Ella gave up her only child to the care of Sweden's new Welfare State when told that Desiree was too severely afflicted to ever leave the hospital. She could not know that, with the help of a computer, her daughter would learn to communicate with others, earn a number of advanced degrees, or use her paranormal capabilities to follow Ella's life and her relationship with her foster daughters. Much of "April Witch" takes place after Ella's stroke when the girls are separated and go on to lead their own lives. Christina becomes a doctor, Margareta a physicist, and Birgitta a battered, drug-addicted alcoholic, but none of them know about Desiree, yet. We don't get to read many novels set in the Sweden of the `50's and 60's, and Linda Schenk's excellent translation makes you realize that there must a worthy collection of Swedish fiction we never get to see. "April Witch" is an intelligent, unusual, deeply felt story that should find an appreciative readership here in the U.S. My only quibble is that the April witch conceit is not fully played out, and actually isn't very necessary. Desiree is already linked to Ella and her sisters through real life-the doctor she loves was a boarder at Ella's house at the time of her stroke, Christina is a doctor in her facility, and Ella ends up on a respirator right down the hall from daughter. It's an interesting nuance to the story, but the tale of this family of women tossed together by chance is compelling enough without it.
Rating:
Summary: Profound and Beautiful
Review: Majgull Axelsson's novel APRIL WITCH is a story told from a different angle -- the narrator is a woman who has lived with cerebral palsy and epilepsy for all of her life. Born in the 40s in Sweden, she was abandoned into state care by her birth mother -- who subsequently adopted three foster daughters. The narrator, Desiree, knows about her 'sisters' -- but they know nothing about her, even of her existence. Desiree is extremely intelligent and motivated -- facts that escape most of her care-givers for years -- and she is 'different' in another way as well: she is an 'April witch', with the ability to leave her crippled body and travel in the bodies of birds and animals (and even other people, although this choice is extremely physically taxing for her). As she moves through middle age and sees her own condition deteriorating, Desiree comes to the conclusion that her death is approaching. She has become increasingly obsessed with the idea that one of her 'sisters' has led the life that was 'meant' for her -- and she is determined to do everything she can to find out which one. The three 'sisters' -- a doctor, a physicist and a drug- and alcohol-abusing derelict -- cannot stand each other. As the book opens, Desiree 'sets her sisters in motion', bringing them not only together, but together around her, in order to answer the questions which have been burning within her for her entire life. The person who knows Desiree the best (and who cares for her very deeply) is her primary care physician, Dr. Hubertsson -- who also happens to be a former lodger at the home of her mother, 'Aunt Ella', as the other 'sisters' know her. He is the remaining link in the world that binds them all together -- and he becomes part of Desiree's plan as well. Over the course of this well-developed story, everyone involved -- Desiree included -- comes to learn a lot about themselves as well as the others. Axelsson's central character is an unusual but compelling one -- and it's refreshing to see a person with such an extreme disabity portrayed with such empathy and respect. This book, besides being very entertaining and intelligently written, can be a potential eye-opener for those who look upon people with disabilities with pity and disdain, as society's flotsam and jetsam. They -- like all of us -- deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.
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