Body Double by Hanna Johansson

28 Jul 2026

Body Double is a carefully-crafted psychological thriller, centering themes of observation, obsession and identity. I read the English translation by Kira Josefsson in a single evening - something I haven’t done in years! - and it’s a technical masterpiece and a credit to the author. I rated it 4.5 stars, because while I didn’t really connect to the book, I feel like I have to give a nod to Johansson’s literary prowess.

She sees that Laura has been eating grapes. Their skeleton is in the sink.

Naomi, a self-obsessed yet insecure secretary, runs into Laura when the two women accidentally swap coats at a department store cafe. Laura is opaque by all means, but shows an interest in Naomi, and that’s enough for Naomi to have her move in. But over time, Laura starts to resemble Naomi, and their budding relationship gets stranger. In the same city, a young woman works as a transcriber for a mysterious ghostwriter who writes autobiographies. She listens to people’s recorded tapes about their lives, and writes down what they say before delivering the transcripts to the ghostwriter, following the same routine each week. After she hears something strange on one of the tapes, however, her routine begins to disintegrate and she herself starts to disappear.

You’d think it’s not possible to write a novel that is essentially 200 pages of bored women going for coffee and have it be even slightly suspenseful, but Johansson pulls it off with great technical precision. Many reviewers describe the novel as Hitchcockian and they’re not wrong! The tension doesn’t let up for a moment. Every word feels deliciously unsettling, and the kaleidoscopic, reality-bending prose doesn’t give you a single place to rest or catch your breath. It’s simply written but that just means that the occasional odd turn of phrase hits you like a truck every single time. Characters move through their daily routines, punctuated by Groundhog Day-esque memorable moments whose relevance is not, and may never become, obvious. There’s a lot of introspection but the women - relatably - struggle to come to conclusions about themselves, just as the perspective that the book is currently using is (intentionally) not always clear. The whole experience leaves the reader paranoid and jumping at metaphorical shadows.

Was this an enjoyable experience for me? No, not really! But by God, did I get the perfectly crafted emotional experience that the author intended me to have. I was unable to put the book down for hours, and one I finished, I read this interview with Johansson by Elisa Shoenberger in the Chicaco Review of Books. I was both furious and delighted to find out that everything I’d felt during my read was exactly what the author wanted - I’d been played like a fiddle! I’d highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to think hard while they read, and who enjoys creepy tension and introspection in their books. It’s just delicious.