Body Double

A surreal thriller that blurs the lines between lies and truth, between the selves we conceal and the faces we show the world.

As winter descends and the city fills with the scent of woodsmoke, a young transcriber follows the same routine each day. She collects tapes from a ghostwriter's office, stops for an espresso and croissant, and returns home to type out the voices of strangers - stories that will become someone else's novels. Her solitary life is predictable, unremarkable ... until the day she hears something different on the tapes: a message meant only for her.

Across the city, two women, Laura and Naomi, accidentally swap coats at a department store cafe. This brief encounter sparks something electric and strange, and soon, Laura has moved in with Naomi. As the days pass, she begins to mirror her more and more closely - her gestures, her habits, her very essence. Slowly, deliberately, Laura starts to take over Naomi's life.

Meanwhile, the transcriber makes a disturbing discovery: she is beginning to disappear ...

About the author

Hanna Johansson began her writing career as a critic and essayist covering topics like fashion, literature, art, and performance, and currently works as the art editor at the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. Her debut novel, Antiquity, was awarded the Katapultpriset Prize in 2021.
Kira Josefsson is a writer and translator working between English and Swedish. She is the recipient of grants from the PEN/Heim Translation Fund and the Swedish Arts Council. She writes about the intersection of politics, literature, and identity for both Swedish- and English-language publications.

Product details

• Authors: Johansson Hanna
• Assisted by: Kira Josefsson (Translation)
• Publisher: Scribe
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 12.03.2026
• EAN: 9781917189514
• ISBN: 978-1-917189-51-4
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), FICTION / Literary, FICTION / Psychological, FICTION / Thrillers / Psychological, FICTION / Magical Realism, Fiction in translation, FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense, Sweden, Thriller / suspense fiction, Thriller / suspense, Magical Realism, Psychological thriller, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, FICTION / World Literature / Sweden, Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction, FICTION / Horror / Psychological