Emmelie Berg

Inom slutna murar

Swedish contemporary YA fiction

Some walls are built without bricks.

Meet Donna — fifteen, grieving, bullied for her stutter, and slowly retreating into silence. At the stable, among horses and unexpected connections, another kind of life begins to open.

276pages
YAcoming-of-age
SVoriginal language
Cover of Inom slutna murar by Emmelie Berg debut novel family • horses • silence
SCROLL
01

The debut novel

Published 14 · 11 · 2024 Lava Förlag

Inom slutna murar

Behind the silence, something still wants to be heard.

Five years after her mother dies in a car accident, Donna is still carrying questions she and her father avoid. School offers little relief. Her stutter makes her a target — until she decides not to speak at all.

The stable becomes her refuge: a place shaped by an older stable owner, a retired trotting horse, and a new apprentice who awakens feelings she does not yet understand. Then family arrives from Spain, and silence becomes harder to maintain.

Genre Contemporary YA
Publisher Lava Förlag
Print ISBN 9789181011234
Audiobook 7h 23m
02

Inside the story

A story about the things we cannot say.

Donna is fifteen. Her mother has been gone for five years, but grief still shapes the quiet spaces between Donna and her father. When school bullying turns her stutter into a daily humiliation, Donna chooses a radical defense: silence.

Yet life refuses to stay silent with her. Her aunt and cousin arrive from Spain. A young apprentice begins work at the stable. A retired trotting horse becomes part of the world where Donna feels safest. And underneath everything sits the memory of the accident no one wants to face.

01

Grief & loss

A family living around the empty space left by a mother’s death.

02

Silence & voice

When speaking hurts, silence can feel like both shelter and prison.

03

Horses & refuge

The stable becomes a place of safety, connection and emotional breathing room.

04

Growing up

Family, attraction, friendship and the difficult work of understanding yourself.

Inom slutna murar

Not every wall is visible.
Not every silence is empty.

Outside Kalmar · Sweden
03

About the author

Meet Emmelie Berg.

Emmelie Berg is a Swedish author whose debut novel, Inom slutna murar, was published by Lava Förlag in 2024.

She lives on a small horse farm outside Kalmar with her family, surrounded by animals and nature. That closeness to horses is more than atmosphere: it is part of the world she knows first-hand.

Her stories tend to begin with something observed or experienced — sometimes simply a place — rather than with a genre formula. Long walks, especially with her dog, give ideas room to develop.

Follow @emmelie_berg ↗

Write to Emmelie emmelie.berg84@gmail.com

The writing process

Ideas begin as footsteps.

Not in a notebook. Not from a market trend. Often from a place, a feeling, something seen on a walk — then held in the mind until it becomes a story.

  1. 01
    Observe

    A place, moment or experience creates the first spark.

  2. 02
    Walk

    Nature creates the quiet where the idea can expand.

  3. 03
    Carry

    The story develops mentally rather than inside an idea notebook.

  4. 04
    Write

    Characters and emotion shape the direction more than a fixed formula.

04

The journey so far

From manuscript to readers.

14 NOV 2024

Print debut

Inom slutna murar is published in Swedish by Lava Förlag.

12 JAN 2025

Behind the author

Emmelie shares her writing process and life around horses, family and nature.

10 FEB 2026

Audiobook release

The story reaches listeners in an audiobook narrated by Helena Zetterman.

NEXT CHAPTER

More stories ahead

Follow Emmelie for verified announcements about future work.

05

Get the book

Hold it in your hands, or listen to it.

03

Straight from Emmelie

Order a signed copy, sent to your door with a few small surprises.

180 SEK + 55 SEK shipping

Order a signed copy ↓

Press Read the press release from Lava Förlag ↗

06

Signed copy

Get a signed copy, sent to your door.

Order the book directly from me. I sign it, tuck in a few small surprises and post it to you.

180 SEK per book
+ 55 SEK shipping
  1. 1

    Fill in the form with your address and who the book should be signed to.

  2. 2

    Pay with Swish. The payment details appear as soon as you have sent your order.

  3. 3

    Email me a screenshot of the payment confirmation, so I can match it to your order.

  4. 4

    I sign the book, add the surprises and post it.

Prefer email? Write to emmelie.berg84@gmail.com. Include your address and who the book should be signed to.

Order your signed book

Books
1 × 180 SEK
Shipping
55 SEK
Total
235 SEK

I only use your details to send your book. Shipping is within Sweden; for other countries, please email me first.