CECILIA KLANG is an author as well as a freelance copywriter and communications officer. Brought up in the town of Hofors, known for its steel industry, she is well-acquainted with the characteristics of the industrial towns of Sweden. After many years in copywriting, she made her literary debut in 2018 with GÄDDSIMMERSKAN, and in 2020 the sequel BRYGGMÄSTARENS KÄRLEK was published.

With extraordinary humor and empathy, Klang makes seemingly ordinary characters come to life. Her novel MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF TOMMY ROOS revolves around Tommy, once a Bon Jovi-like local rockstar in the small industrial town of Forshammar, now a fifty-year-old factory worker on the brink of losing both his wife and his job. The Swedish rights to a trilogy about Forshammar were sold to Polaris. MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF TOMMY ROOS was released in the summer of 2022, RAIN EXPECTED IN SOUTHERN NORRLAND was published in spring 2023, and the third and final part NO UNAUTHORISHED ACESS will be published in May 2024.

Cecilia Klang resides in Gävle with her husband, their two children, and their dog Loffe.

Agent Erik Larsson

TO BE published POLARIS, MAY 2024
Genre UPMARKET FEELGOOD
Pages 352

rights sold
ALL RIGHTS AVAILABLE

There is unrest in Forshammar. A car has burned in the town centre and residents are speculating about who is behind it. Welder Magnus Aronsson’s head is also in turmoil. A question from his daughter Amanda, asked during the last hour of New Year’s Eve, reminds him of the fatal accident he caused thirty-five years ago, and now the memories are starting to haunt him.

Meanwhile, Forshammarverket’s new site manager Sara Johansson has ambitious plans. By taking in trainees, young people who have fallen by the wayside, she is convinced that the factory, the workers and the whole community will develop. Magnus does not believe in Sara’s ideas and when sixteen-year-old Juni reluctantly becomes his responsibility, he considers resigning.

NO UNAUTHORISED ACCESS is the third and final part of the Forshammar series and the independent continuation of MAY CONTAIN TRACES BY TOMMY ROOS and RAIN EXPECTED IN SOUTHERN NORRLAND. It is a warm story about life and work in the small mill town – about the security of the morning coffee and the boredom of the punch clock, about pizza in front of the TV and the art of keeping the driveway clear of snow. But mostly it’s about the people. Those who have stayed, those who have come home and those who have always longed to belong.

published POLARIS, 2023
Genre UPMARKET FEELGOOD
Pages 368

rights sold
german C. BERTELSMANN (penguin random house)

Fifty-three-year-old Susanne Åkesson has spent her entire life taking care of her home, her partner Lars, their children and her single mother. But when her sons have been away for a long time, her mother suddenly dies and Lars goes on early retirement from his managerial job at the factory, no one needs her anymore. Susanne ponders what she should do with her life, without her own money or a real job and with the judgmental looks of the Forshammar residents on her.

In her mother's dilapidated summer house, she hopes to find peace as well as herself, but all she finds are memories of her own childhood and her mother's seemingly empty life. And when the thermometer steadily shows thirty degrees, the weather report is the only entertainment available and the local shopkeeper Lotta is constantly breathing down her neck, Susanne wonders if she made the wrong decision.

Maybe she should have just carried on as before? Or is it that life, unlike the weather, cannot be predicted at all? When you least expect it, there might be a storm, some sunshine or a man who wants to paddle a canoe.

RAIN EXPECTED IN SOUTHERN NORRLAND is the second part in the series about the factory town of Forshammar and the independent continuation of MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF TOMMY ROOS. It's a warm story about life choices, family secrets and the difficulty of finding yourself in a place where everyone already seems to know everything about who you are.

REVIEWS

"A bit wistful, a bit serious, but also with a tickling humour."
- P4 Västernorrland

"There is a declaration of love that makes me teary-eyed. That is not the only time I get teary-eyed while reading RAIN EXPECTED IN SOUTHERN NORRLAND."
- Gefle Dagblad

"It is definitely entertainment, but with insightful human depth."
- Arbetarbladet

"Warm and sad about trying to find yourself in adulthood."
- Femina

MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF TOMMY ROOS

Tommy Roos’ life is as it has always been. He works at the factory in his hometown Forshammar and has been married to his teenage love Martina for many years. The only thing that really differs from adolescence is that all big things have been put aside—the rock star dreams have been replaced by the house, the Volvo and the dog. Tommy himself thinks that everything is going well, but Martina does not. During a conversation with a couple therapist, she drops a bomb: she wants a divorce. At the same time, Tommy receives news that the factory is facing the threat of a move to Estonia, with hundreds of unemployed as a result.

Tommy's life is about to collapse completely—but then he meets opera singer Gunnel Aurell, once an internationally celebrated star. With Gunnel's help, Tommy finds his voice again and gets the chance to prove that there is still both life and fighting spirit left in both him and Forshammar.

MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF TOMMY ROOS is a novel about the big events of a little life. A kind of power ballad in novel form, a harmonious song about the person you wished you had become—and the person you actually became. It is also a story about a small town, and its struggle to stay alive.

REVIEWS

”MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF TOMMY ROOS is really, really good feel-good! It is warm, sympathetic and wonderfully human. Cecilia Klang's main characters are complex, three-dimensional and somewhat recalcitrant, that is, completely irresistible. If you’re going to read just one feel-good novel this summer, this is definitely that book!”
- BTJ

"Cecilia Klang writes with a light hand and has a natural sense of humor (...) she should be able to compete for feel-good awards for the novel of the year, but also be a candidate when working-class literature awards, such as the Stig Sjödin prize, are awarded."
- Gefle Dagblad

"Fantastic dialogue, spot-on details - has a name ever sounded more glam rock than Tommy Roos? - and I love that Klang lets the escapism play out in realistic work-site environments."
- M Magazine

"It’s so relatable that it almost makes you burst, and that is very good… Read the book about Tommy Roos this summer. It is perfect relaxation literature."
- Smålandsposten

"MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF TOMMY ROOS is written with both humor and finesse and also deals with a lot of bitter truths. The old rock star Tommy Roos’ path to insight and maturity is a guaranteed mood lifter in the same spirit as Fredrik Backman's characters Ove and Britt-Marie."
- Alingsås newspaper

“A master of getting the tone right! In addition to writing really well, Klang makes an extremely welcome contribution to glam rock in Swedish literature. This book is so cinematic. I can already see it as a movie.”
- Swedish Daily News TV-programme