Doctor Glas — Hjalmar Soderberg

Stark, brooding, and enormously controversial when first published in 1905, this astonishing novel juxtaposes impressions of finâ€"deâ€"siècle Stockholm against the psychological landscape of a man besieged by obsession. Lonely and introspective, Doctor Glas has long felt an instinctive hostility toward the odious local minister. So when the minister's beautiful wife complains of her husband's oppressive sexual attentions, Doctor Glas finds himself contemplating murder. A masterpiece of enduring power, Doctor Glas confronts a chilling moral quandary with gripping intensity.