Mats Kempe was born in Stockholm in 1966. He debuted as an author with a short story collection in 1996 and since then has published eight more books. Kempe has been the International Secretary for the Swedish Writers’ Union and is on the jury for The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. His novel Havet (The Sea) came about during his grieving process throughout the long-drawn-out time when his father was dying, and also during his wife’s period of illness. Sandy Denny’s music had a surprisingly comforting effect on Kempe during this period. Sandy Denny’s own father, Neil Denny, became the protagonist of the novel. Havet turned into an attempt to understand what makes life worth living. Neil Denny survived his family – Sandy, her brother David, and their mother Edna – for eighteen years. Although he lost his entire family, Neil chose to live out his life, alone in an apartment in Wimbledon.