The Book:
The Lost Village by Camilla Sten, 2021
The Characters:
Alice
Her crew Tone, Emmy, Robert, and Max
Elsa, in the past, who is Alice’s great grandmother
Aina, Alice’s grandmother’s sister
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Many thanks to Minotaur Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Lost Village will be available in the US on March 23, 2021.
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left—a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn—have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.
But there will be no turning back.
Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice:
They are not alone.
They’re looking for the truth…
But what if it finds them first?
The Ending:
Tone is Bergitta Lidman’s granddaughter. Bergitta was raped by Pastor Mattias and then stoned to death by the congregation for being a witch. The baby found in the village was their child and Tone’s mom.
Aina was still alive, hiding in the woods and waiting for Birgitta’s daughter to return. The day the village disappeared, the congregation had taken Elsa and the other non-believers down into the mine to sacrifice them, but the mine collapsed. Aina had been left in the village to take care of the baby.
Aina was the one following the crew around the village, who had set fire to the vans and killed Emmy and Max. Tone had a psychotic break and might have thought she was Bergitta, but she didn’t kill anyone.
Emmy, Tone, and Robert manage to kill Aina and escape. I was hoping for some follow-up about what happened with the documentary, but it never said. I appreciated hearing Aina’s side in the epilogue, but would rather have read about Alice and Tone’s success a few years down the road.
Also, were Tone and Alice a couple or just friends? Emmy at one point said partner, but it was unclear if she meant romantic partner or business partner. I wanted them to be a couple.
The Review:
This book is the definition of atmospheric. I absolutely loved the descriptions of the group exploring this abandoned village. I could picture it perfectly, and I wish I was there! The creepy vibe of the silent streets came across really well, but I wouldn’t call it scary or horror.
The mystery of what happened to the residents of Silvertjarn had me hooked. I liked that the story jumped from Alice’s view in the present to Elsa’s view in the past (as well as some letters from Aina to Alice’s grandma), so that the book progressed towards the answer from both directions. Certain aspects of the plot were pretty obvious from early on, but I don’t think it took away from my enjoyment of the novel.
I enjoyed the relationships between the characters. There’s some conflict between Emmy and Alice from their past, and it unveils itself slowly as the story progresses. Max and Robert weren’t really developed too well, but it help the story from getting too confusing.
There were a few more things I wanted to know after the ending–I wish the epilogue was about a different character than it was. The whole mystery was tied up well, though. That’s all I can say without spoilers!
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