cirkeln

Cirkeln (The Circle) is a Swedish young adult fantasy novel co-written by Mats Strandberg and Sara Bergmark Elfgren. Originally published in 2011 in Swedish by Rabén & Sjögren, it is the first installment in the Engelsfors trilogy, followed by Eld (Fire) and Nyckeln (The Key). The novel has been translated into several languages and helped catalyze a surge of international interest in Swedish YA fiction.

The story is set in Engelsborgs, a fictional town in central Sweden, and follows six seventh-period high school students who come from very different social circles. They are brought together by a past-life prophecy and discover they are witches bound to a circle that must confront an emerging darkness threatening their town. As the circle forms, the girls must balance the pressures of adolescence with the weight of their supernatural responsibilities, while navigating friendship, rivalries, secrets, and personal trauma.

Themes center on female friendship and empowerment, identity and belonging, the collision of ordinary teenage life with extraordinary powers, and the social tensions that form a close-knit community. The novel blends coming-of-age realism with urban fantasy elements, using multiple perspectives to explore how each character contributes to and challenges the circle’s fate.

Cirkeln was widely praised for its ensemble cast, fast-paced plotting, and its fusion of teen drama with magical intrigue. It established a successful franchise within Swedish YA literature and contributed to international interest in Nordic fantasy narratives.