Ok, I’m not sure how I’d never heard of this book before because what a trip.

This is a bit of a misery fest but it’s such a good read and interesting insight on relationships and marriage.

Sundström's exploration of the concept of relationships - mainly romantic, but also platonic - is a real education. Many of the thoughts which Martina has, I have wondered about myself; but have never read or heard them from such a relatable character. Her efforts to untangle what are her real feelings, and what does she feel due to cultural expectations, were fascinating. Regardless of how much you agree with her changing opinions and questions, I found Martina such a great character that I wanted to consider everything she brought up. It doesn't read like a philosophical treatise, it definitely reads like a novel, in my opinion, but it's rare for a novel to be so genuinely thought-provoking. I absolutely loved Engagement.

Gun-Britt Sundström’s Engagement is a quietly devastating, incisively feminist portrait of love, autonomy, and the emotional negotiations within relationships. Through a deceptively simple narrative of a young couple navigating commitment in 1970s Sweden, Sundström unpacks the tension between romantic ideals and individual freedom. Her prose is spare yet piercing, laced with dry wit and emotional clarity. A subtle, modern classic that still feels bracingly relevant—a clear-eyed study of what we give up, and what we cling to, in the name of love.