The Summer House: An Adventure into the Nature of Sweden

A chance encounter in a London pub leads to a red wooden house on the Baltic coast, marriage, kids, dancing bears, angry beavers, devious orchids, monster pike, magic trees, and a wild adventure deep into Scandinavia’s forested heart.

The Summer House is James Owen’s story of his new life in Sweden surrounded by nature. At its centre is the family summer house, where Swedes escape back to the simple life in nature they not so long ago left behind. This summer house comes with Europe’s largest butterfly, rare orchids, eagles, elk, and dancing around the Midsummer maypole with Benny from Abba on accordion. From here the book sets out to explore the natural history of the country and its people, wandering across frozen seas, wildflower-filled meadows, mosquito-plagued mountains, and into the woody recesses of the Swedish imagination.

Taking readers from the modern tech-hub of Stockholm to a land of bears, wolves, fairies and trolls, The Summer House blends nature writing, memoir, culture and history in an engaging style that entertains as well as informs. Written for nature lovers and seekers of the wild north, it’s also a book for those curious to learn more about life in Sweden.