Sweden

One of the most remarkable examples of historical fiction; indissolubly linked to the historical reality of the 1960s. A novel with fleshed out characters and undiminished action, the main subject of which is the deserters of the Vietnam was, which reach 503,926 in the years 1966-1973. In the words of the author himself: "More U.S. military personnel deserted during the Vietnam War than in any other war in modern American military history." The author handles and explores this difficult issue with admirable sensitivity, while the prose is both compelling and whorthy of "veteran" writers.

Sweden
By Matthew Turner
The Mantle NYThe Mantle NY
Rating ****

Sweden is a fast-paced historical fiction war novel set during the 1960’s Vietnam War.

The novel follows three characters and their journeys throughout the war. This includes:

Lieutenant Harper - Who is a marine whom after fighting in the war and getting injured decides he cannot return and has become a “deserter” he gets in contact with a Japanese anti-war group Beheiren, who are trying to help him escape to Sweden a neutral country.

Masuda - Who is a Japanese man that is deep within the anti-war movement Beheiren, helping American soldiers leave the country who do not want to return to war. Their group are naïve and amateur but try their best to help 3 young soldiers across Japan into a neutral country such as Sweden.

Eddie Flynn - Who is a young Seaman apprentice in the Navy who was working on a hospital ship, firstly in triage but then in the morgue, after seeing some really horrific things he decides to run away from the Naval base and see where fate takes him.

Each story is just as exciting and adventurous as the next, the novel is addictive because you want the best for each character and want to know where their future lies. I enjoyed the fact there were three different perspectives throughout the novel and within their journeys Turner flits from their past and their present situation, so you understand what they saw, felt and had to deal with during the war. Also you get to read the  two sides of the story, the American Soldiers wanting to leave the war behind them, even if it means they are betraying their country and leaving their home and families behind and the brave selfless people wanting to help the Americans even if they are sacrificing their own safety to do so.

I think my favourite character would be Eddie Flynn, I felt he developed the most as you could see him at the beginning of the novel as quite a shy man who wouldn't stand up for himself and just did what he was told, throughout the novel he gained self confidence and I guess became a man. Out of all the 'deserters' I really wanted him to escape and make it out of Japan, in the epilogue you find out what happened to him and as a reader I just felt so proud of him that he went through so much but stayed strong.  

I am a big fan of historical fiction but usually read about Nazi Germany, I have never read a book set during the Vietnam war before and really enjoyed it, not just because it was action packed and fast paced but I learnt a lot from it as well. I love learning anything about history, obviously this is a fictional novel but it made me realise what these soldiers had to put up with and a lot of novels or films focus purely on the action on the front line in Vietnam, this book was unique as it was set away from the fighting on the frontline and the soldiers were in Japan. There were some flashbacks of war scenes but this books main focus was about the soldiers who couldn’t cope with the war and how they got made to feel like traitors to their country just because they couldn’t handle the horrific things they saw or had to do on a daily basis.

I could really tell that Turner had a great passion for Japan and had an extensive knowledge about the different places and general culture of Japanese people. I travelled around Japan for a month and having this knowledge helped me understand a lot better the different locations throughout the book, the Japanese food and way of life. What I liked after the novel was that turner added a small chapter of historical notes which gave you an even better insight into what went on during the war, how many soldiers became "deserters" and all about the Japanese anti war movement. His depth of knowledge and understanding of these subjects really shined throughout the novel but he still maintained a fantastic, interesting and accomplished fictional narrative. 

Considering this is Matthew Turner’s debut novel I can’t commend him enough; the writing was fantastic, and I could really imagine every part of the story playing out in my head just like a movie. As a book I think it was brilliant, but I personally think it would also make a great film or TV show, a bit like the HBO show The Pacific. I highly recommend this read, it isn’t something I would usually pick up or thought I would have liked but I really got into it and read it in just two days, I couldn’t put it down and hope this won’t be the only book Matthew Turner writes as I would definitely read any future novels he releases. Sweden is out on August 1st where you will be able to buy it on Amazon.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book (from NetGalley). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Though I generally prefer historical fiction, this novel was outside my usual interests. It was certainly an interesting book, based on some real events. I found it valuable in an eye-opening sort of way. The plot trailed a natural course based on the history of actual Vietnam War deserters. The novel was a little hard for me to follow at first--with so many characters introduced within a short time. (I think I would have liked more of the deserters depicted from their own points of view, however.) I know this was certainly a difficult topic to address, with many different angles on the subject, and so I believe it was done in what was maybe the clearest way possible.

Funny thing is, the cover got my attention because of the title, 'Sweden'. Already while reading the description I got to know that this title is more of a symbol, a promise, and the novel takes place in Japan, but it still sounded interesting, so I decided to read it.
I have to say I wasn't disappointed! This was a very original story set during the Vietnam War, but instead of concentrating on the U. S., it took place in Japan. I found it a little hard to follow all the point of views and especially the time lines, but all in all I could understand everything, and I found this book very interesting. It showed several people's take on the events and the war, and I liked it very much. The reader gets to see very different people with very different personalities, situations and backgrounds react to the same things, and I think that's awesome! We see what it's all like for deserters and activists as well. Showing that many of the soldiers were basically kids (18, 19 year-olds) is a huge plus, and it wasn't something just written down, all the things they did and the way they behaved demonstrated it as well. I loved to get a picture of that time's Japan, too. I found the endings, the two epilogues a bit awkward, but all in all this was a well-written, complete and interesting story.
If the author writes more books, I'll be there to read them!