Elin Willows’ popular Literary Fiction debut Inlands is out now as an audiobook performed by award-winning narrator Ann Marie Arvdal Richardson
Hello again, dear audiobooks friends! Some of you may remember that Alina and I have moved to Oslo last summer. Since we arrived here we try to learn as much as we can about the Nordic culture and today’s Spotlight article is dedicated to the debut literary fiction novel Inlands from author Elin Willows, who grew up in Sweden and now lives and works as a journalist in Finland.
The audio production of Inlands is performed by multiple award-winning voiceover artist and narrator Ann Marie Arvdal Richardson and it’s a little over four hours in duration. I listened to many audiobooks narrated by Ann and I can say that she is very talented and that I love her voice!
Ann is half-Swedish and her heritage is an important part of who she is, and so she found narrating Inlands a poignant and enriching experience.
The work has first been published in Swedish by Nordisk Books in February of 2020, and the audiobook version has been released at the end of May 2022 by Great Plains Audiobooks.
Great Plains Audiobooks is new on the audiobook publishing scene and is the passion project of award-winning narrator Ann Richardson. Because she grew up in Nebraska, her focus is on literature about the MidWest, or written by Midwestern authors. However, Great Plains Audiobooks is also expanding to include Scandinavian literature.
Now, let’s take a look at the Publisher’s Summary so that you can make an idea about what’s happening in the book, and after that, I’ll tell you more about Ann and I’ll show you where you can even watch an interview with the author.
Elin Willows’ popular debut Inlands explores the emotional journey of a young woman who leaves behind her life in Stockholm and finds herself in a new place at the edge of the Arctic Circle. Overwhelmed by nature’s magnitude and the simplicity and strangeness of her new life, she searches for a new identity and for ways to overcome her feelings of alienation.
Rather than returning to the known (Stockholm, her friends and family), she chooses to stay and struggles to adapt to its new customs. It is a story about loss and change and examines the tangible mechanics of everyday life, the mentality of a small community and the relationship between freedom and loneliness in the alternating endless sunlight and bitter cold of the Swedish seasons. Translated from the Swedish by Duncan J. Lewis.
Ann Marie Arvdal Richardson has been narrating since 2008, from her state-of-the-art, Northern California recording booth. She has been awarded three AudioFile Magazine’s Earphones Awards as of May 2022, and has also been a multi-time finalist for the Society of Voice Arts Awards (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019).
She narrates for publishers such as Blackstone, Dreamscape, Harper, Macmillan, Oasis, Penguin Random House, Tantor, and many more.
Ann teaches the craft of audiobook narration for VoiceOne academy in San Francisco and has developed a downloadable video course for beginning narrators to self-study. She enjoys long-distance running and cuddling with her family and their two French Mastiffs.
As promised, below you will find an embedded video interview with Elin Willows in which she answers questions on her new book, Inlands:
I am really excited to listen to this audiobook and I will return with a full review for Inlands soon, but until then, take care, stay safe, and don’t forget, always listen with your heart!
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I also post reviews or articles at the author, narrator, or publisher’s request, so, if you are in need of assistance in finding the perfect narrator for your book or just want to have a review on my blog, do get in touch.
Victor Dima
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