What A Time To Be Alive (2026)

Twenty-one, friendless and without money but not without hope, Sickan Hermansson arrives at Stockholm University determined to build a new version of herself and make up for lost time. Her lonely childhood in a small southern town has left her unprepared for intimacy, friendship, sex and love, but she wants to learn how to be normal. Just as Sickan finds her first friends and begins to feel safe, she meets Abbe, beautiful and charming, who somehow wants her too. Unlike Sickan, he seems entirely at ease with himself, but whether he can provide a solid foundation for a relationship remains uncertain. Jenny Mustards coming-of-age novel explores class, sex, loneliness and the trials of young womanhood through a series of firsts: the first party you are invited to, the first time you fall in love, the first time you betray a friend, and the first time you ask how much of yourself you are willing to sacrifice to fit in.