The sequel of the best-selling book 'Hidden' begins where Maria Svensson with
family returns to Sweden after a long stay abroad - a desperate attempt to escape the ex-husband's harassments, threats and murder attempts. Yet, the story is far from over. Maria's ex-husband refuses to give up and when the
authorites fails to act, only one solution remains: Maria and her family have to emigrate - for good. South America is the first stop. The children begin school, Maria works and on the whole, the family's future looks bright. But still: the family are not legal citizens and besides, they still live in the fear of Maria's ex-husband finding them. Maria begins to hesitate: perhaps South America was not the answer to their dreams? Once again the family moves, this time to the US - the singe country where her ex-husband, with his criminal reccord, never can come to. But to get the permission to stay Maria and her family have to get American visas, which is more or less impossible to get as fugitives - from Sweden. I
wish that this review never had had to be written. That Maria and her family did not had had to go through more fear, pain and suffering. That the Swedish authorites did not turn out to be so damn slack. I wish that it had ended happily already in 'Hidden'. But still. Maria's story is true and has to be told. It has to be
told and no one does it better than Marklund. Who understands that simple words kan hurt more than superfluos metaphors. I want to hug, comfort, cry. But most of all I want to scream. At unsympathetic authorites, at incompetent legal systems that doesn't work. At the fact that men like him still walks the Swedish streets scornfully laughing at our judical system. 'Asylum' is a strong, touching sequel which refuses to become a passive spectator-account about a poor abused woman.
More reviews about the Asylum