And Her Eyes Were Blue

They are waiting for her at the church gate. The year is 1671, and Kirsti Martasdotter is imprisoned and accused of witchcraft. Eight months later, she escapes. Heavily pregnant, tortured, and raped, she makes her way back to her home in Lövaren. 2011. During a summer marked by evil, when a madman shoots children on an island in the Norwegian archipelago, Raili looks forward to six relaxing weeks in Lövaren on the Swedish west coast. Unaware of the old legend about a witch who once lived in the woods behind her cabin, Raili spends time with the friendly elderly couple on the neighboring farm and befriends the eccentric Olofsson, who lives on the opposite shore. He tells her strange stories about the people around the lake, including one about a couple whose child has disappeared. The parents don’t seem to care; they act as if their child never existed. He also mentions a dog he is sure he once had – a dog that has vanished without a trace, even from his photo albums. Raili is both fascinated and skeptical: is her new friend a fraud or a madman? But when Olofsson is found drowned in the lake, she remembers something else he said. Evil lurks in these woods.