'The Girl in the Spider's Web' - David Lagercrantz

Another book with a story behind it, The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz is shrouded in controversy. It is a continuation of the hugely popular Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larrson, a man who was not unfamiliar with controversy himself. Born in Västerbotten, Sweden, he was raised by his grandparents. His writing career is said to have started when he was given a typewriter for his twelfth birthday, and after his grandfather was imprisoned in a work camp for his anti-fascism, Stieg became determined to fight against censorship and inequalities, becoming one of the founders of Expo, an anti-fascism magazine. His life and that of his long-term partner Eva Gabrielsson was constantly threatened by right-wing violence, and they were forced to take extreme measures to keep themselves safe,  never being seen together outside the house. Despite these measures, he died suddenly at the age of 50 from natural causes, though there continue to be conspiracy theories about murder surrounding his death.

Fortunately for his now innumerable fans, Larrson had already sent all three books of the Millennium series to the publisher; in fact, he finished two of them and had started the third before even contacting a publisher. Unfortunately for him, he died before any of them were released and he never got to see the global success of his novels and the hype that they created. All three were turned into Swedish films, and the first of the book trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2005), has also been turned into a Hollywood film. Larsson's The Girl who Played with Fire (2006) was released in the UK in 2009 and shot straight to number one in the hardback chart, the first translated novel to do so at the time. The third and final book, The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2007), had a similar reception, and the trilogy has won numerous awards.

It is no surprise that another author would want to continue on this success. David Lagercrantz, a Swedish journalist and author, is known predominantly for his biographies. A crime writer until 1993, he published his first book in 1997, a biography on Swedish adventurer Göran Kropp. In 2000, he followed this with a biography on Håkan Lans, before turning his attentions to fiction with a novel about British mathematician Alan Turing entitled Fall of Man in Wilmslow. Perhaps his most popular book before his most recent is I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, an autobiography of the footballer which Lagercrantz was the ghostwriter of. 

The Girl in the Spider's Web, released this year, is his first of its kind. In my opinion, it should be taken as a separate book, and therefore a separate story, entirely. I have read many a synopsis of the novel before engaging in it, reading along the lines of 'crime fighting duo reunited', but Mikael and Lisbeth are no Batman and Robin - far from it! The Millennium trilogy had me hooked from the start, and I devoted every spare second I had to reading it. The story was admirably intelligent and complex, and reading the last was overwhelmingly disappointing in that you knew there would never be another. At the time, there were rumours of half-finished manuscripts that Gabrielsson would complete, but nothing ever came from them. Lagercrantz has made the fourth book a reality, but he had a lot to live up to. 

The fourth book in the series sees advanced computer hacker Lisbeth Salander and investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist embroiled in the same murder mystery. Blomkvist is in a career rut, bored of the breaking news stories that he used to thrive on. Out of the blue, he is contacted by Frans Balder, a renowned scientist making advanced developments in Artificial Intelligence. Coincidentally, Balder had also been in touch with Salander to find out how his previous work had been stolen and sold on to a video game developer. He is informed by Säpo, the Swedish security police, that his life is in danger, and in the hope of protecting his autistic son, Balder wants to tell his story to Blomkvist so that it will be published in Millennium magazine. However, a tragedy occurs that leaves his savant son August's life in danger, along with Blomkvists's and Salander's, who is also attempting to track down a gang of hackers calling themselves the Spiders whom she believes to have connections to her monstrous late father and she wants her revenge.

Lagercrantz has actually surpassed my expectations with this novel. I held Stieg Larrson in such high regard that I didn't believe anyone could take over from him, but this latest addition to the series is a pleasant surprise, and I was just as addicted to this novel as the first three. I know I said that I would treat this is as a separate novel entirely, but I couldn't help but make comparisons throughout; there were not many that I noticed where Lagercrantz failed to follow Larrson's style and talent. He gives things away a little earlier than Larrson perhaps would have, and he clearly admires the characters Larrson created; both Blomkvist and Salander both seem to have less flaws and make less mistakes, but they are still essentially the same characters with just as much depth. 

The actual plot of The Girl in the Spider's Web also follows the same complexity as its prequels. It is just as intricate in detail, with every ounce of intelligence to match. I really wanted to hate this novel, out of respect for Larrson's partner who is rumoured to be against the continuation, but Lagercrantz has left no room for that. Rather than seeing the book as a chance to make money off a successful series, I see it as a dedication to Stieg Larrson and the fans he left behind but never knew. There is no doubt in my mind that this is not the last of the Millennium series, and I can't help but smile at that.

'The Land Where Lemons Grow' - Helena Attlee

When I first saw Helena Attlee's The Land Where Lemons Grow lying on a table in a book shop it was the middle of summer and I fell in love simply with the cover. On reading the blurb and realising it was about Italy I only fell further, having been to Rome last year and remembering well how captivating Italy can be. However, the book ended up sitting in the middle of a pile of unread books, where it may have spent years being considered as a 'reference' book, until I happened to finish a book on a surprisingly sunny day, after what seemed like weeks of rain. This book just seemed to stand out; the perfect conditions, you could say, just as it takes the perfect conditions to grow lemons, I found out.

I am fully aware that I might have to work hard to sell this book to you. It is, after all, non-fiction; the first non-fiction book I have written a review about so far. I had to convince myself, when reading the first page, to continue. However, by page five I had laughed out loud at a quip about a Seville orange, and realised Helena Attlee already had me hooked. Her passion for the citrus industry is strikingly obvious and incredibly addictive to read. It came as no surprise when I found out that Attlee specialises in writing about the cultural history of Italian gardens, contributing to numerous magazines. She has managed to capture the various aspects of the citrus industry (who knew there were so many?) making lemons seem more like works of art than simply fruit to be eaten, She delves into the history of the citrus fruits grown in the many diverse regions of Italy; the science behind the countless varieties and hybrids, including the affect just a few degrees in temperature can have; the art and literature produced by those in admiration of the fruits; and the brutal business side behind the beauty. Attlee's personal anecdotes are what really bring the book together, turning what could have been a dull book of facts into a vivid story of travel and experiences. 

Her travels through Italy begin when Attlee first experiences the land where lemons grow, travelling on a sleeper train through the Italian Riviera thirty-five years ago: 

"...there were lemons growing beside the station platform, their dark leaves and bright fruit set against a backdrop of nothing but sea. I never forgot those trees..." She goes on to introduce the Medici's citrus collection in Florence, once the finest in Europe, where she begins her search for casts of various citrus fruit of all shapes and sizes before travelling to the Amalfi Coast. Attlee continues from here to Sicily, starting in Palermo where she describes how the citrus industry grew here and the mafia's violent influence on this expanding market. In Catania in Sicily she explores the growth of blood oranges, a fruit proven to prevent obesity and improve health, the best of which can only be grown at the base of Mount Etna, making it more expensive than other more widely available 'blond' oranges.

Moving away from Sicily to a more regulated industry where the mafia have little influence, Attlee introduces chinotti, which is grown in Liguria. She defends the fruit from being called the "runt of the citrus litter", and describes her conversion to candied chinotti, after tasting some fresh from the factory. She moves further up the country to Northern Italy, starting in Lake Garda which used to be known for its multitude of lemon houses before disease, floods, and the First World War left the Garda citrus industry in tatters. From here, she travels west to Ivrea, where oranges are thrown rather than grown. It is home to the Battle of the Oranges, a festival which marks the end of the carnival season, in which oranges are pelted as weapons in a lighthearted war on the street. In direct contrast, Attlee goes on the deep south of the country where the most valuable citrus fruit is grown. In Calabria, a place inflicted with natural disaster and rough terrain, the bergamot is produced and its essential oils extracted to be used by the perfume industry, a process that has been taking place for decades. The same location is home to the Diamante citron, a citrus fruit that in its most perfect form becomes not only expensive but also plays a part in religion, as Jews use it during the celebration of Sukkoth.

There are not nearly enough adjectives in the English dictionary to describe how much I love Helena Attlee's journey of Italy through citrus fruit. Before reading the book, my vision of Italy had been that of a tourist; busy with foreigners, queues for the sites, beggars on the streets and the air so hot it engulfed you. Attlee has opened my eyes to a more authentic Italy, her own unique experience after working there for nearly thirty years, away from stereotypes and tourism. It is bursting full of adjectives, so much so you can almost smell the lemon groves she writes so passionately about. There is no denying Atlee has a gift for story telling; if she wrote a book about pencils, I'd be inclined to read it. There is even a recipe for homemade limoncello using more alcohol than tourists would be accustomed to. Enjoy!