Eventide

Bohman’s moving third novel (following The Other Woman) immerses the reader in the life of 40-something Karolina Andersson, an art professor at the University of Stockholm. Single for the first time in 11 years, she begins middle age with the task of moving to a smaller apartment. As her semester begins, she finally meets her elusive PhD advisee, Anton, who has been in Germany researching Ebba Ellis, an obscure Swedish artist. At first she finds him entitled and annoying, but as she learns more about his childhood with a single mother struggling to make ends meet, she grows compassionate toward him and more interested in his work on Ellis, which promises to be revelatory. Karolina’s interest in Anton blooms into sexual desire, but this new excitement distracts her from suspicious elements of his work. When she at last begins to investigate these inconsistencies, she finds that those who seem too good to be true often are. This psychologically rich journey provides insight into an intelligent, successful woman who burns with needs she fears she can’t fulfill. (Apr.)