Ellika Shilling
ELLIKA SHILLING, born and raised in the northern town of Kiruna i Sweden, lives in Patterson, a small community in the state of New York, since 1993, Trained as an acupuncturist, she works from home where her husband, two half-grown children, four alpacas, six dogs, and a cat reside.
Ellika made her literary debut in November of 2023 with Maja’s Odyssey, a historical fiction novel inspired by true events. It was an honor for Ellika to research and write her great-aunt’s story. It is a narrative about impossible love and where women on the margin of society sometimes had to fight for their lives literally, but it is also a tale about female friendship and strength in 1920s Sweden.
Ellika Shilling found Majas story intriguing. This fueled her passion to delve full force into Maja’s Odyssey. Since Maja’s story has its roots in true events, Ellika portrayed the main character, Maja, just right by giving her the voice she deserved.
Ellika’s strength, as an author, is bringing a narrative to life while giving the reader the opportunity to paint their own canvas of Maja’s life. She captures the essence of the story in a precise way, lets the characters leap from the pages, and illustrates the world that pulsates with life as they live it. Ellika enjoys incorporating folklore and mysticism in her texts.
Ellika will be debuting a short story in an anthology in September 2025 and is currently working on a full-length manuscript. There she explores friendship, love and what happens when the past and present intersect into two parallel storylines.
Her social media presence is mostly focused on the daily adventures of a writer, and part-time farmer on a hobby farm consisting of four alpacas, four dogs, and a cat. Since she left Sweden for the USA in 1993, she has lived in four different states and is now calling New York home where she resides.
Ellika has been interviewed for Forum, a magazine published by SWEA (Swedish Women’s Educational Association) and distributed on-line to Swedish women all around the world.
Maja’s Odyssey
The story of Maja Isaksson came to Ellika when she read Maja Hagerman’s biography “Dearest Herman” (Käraste Herman), a biography that discusses all aspects of Professor Herman Lundborg’s life. What caught Ellika’s attention in the biography were the chapters about his mistress and later wife, Maja Isaksson. After all, Maja was Ellika’s great aunt.
Professor Lundborg was the founder and chief scientist of the world’s first racial biological institute located at Uppsala University, Sweden. The institute opened in 1922.
His views on race were highly appreciated by the Nazi party in Germany. The Professor met Maja while conducting research in the most northern part of Sweden. Maja, however, was of the “wrong” race which makes their secret relationship so much more intriguing.
Maja’s story needed to be told. Based on factual events, letters, and thorough research, Ellika portrayed her own interpretation of Maja’s first ten years in Uppsala. With the author’s license to create, she gave Maja life, and the reader gets to experience what was bound to happen in a secret relationship and the heart-wrenching decisions Maja had to make along the way.
Quotes and reviews
An important perspective.
Herman Lundborg’s story has been told many times, but here we have a narrative that remains unheard—despite being just as important! The encounter with Maja is, for me as a reader, an extremely emotional experience. The author’s language is vivid and beautiful, and the historical details are carefully chosen. It is also deeply inspiring to see Maja reach her goals in a time when that was far from a given!
Elin, December 29, 2023 (five stars)
Captivating from page one!
This book moved me deeply and stayed with me long after I finished it. It made me reflect on my own life and what it means to be a woman in Sweden. I later read that this is the author’s debut—hard to believe—the language is divine. A powerful story that I warmly recommend!
Molly, December 20, 2023 (five stars)
Gripping.
A book that opened my eyes to things I knew nothing about. It grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let go. It’s both fascinating and terrifying that this actually happened—not so long ago.
The author writes in a way that makes me feel, see, and be moved by every word, every event. The portrayals bring the text to life.
Linnea, May 5, 2025 (five stars)
Original title: En enkel till Uppsala: Majas resa
Publication: Storify Publishing
November 2023
Pages: 341
Rights sold: All rights available
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