Eyvind Johnson mainly wrote historical and autobiographical pieces, sometimes entirely documentary. He renewed the novel and was a precursor in documentarism and got followers later on in the 60s. In 1974 he shared the Nobel Prize in literature “for a narrative art, far-seeing in lands and ages, in the service of freedom”.
Johnson problematized the matter of time and memory and he was inspired by Henri Bergson. Other influences came from Marcel Proust, James Joyce and Thomas Mann.
The Days of his Grace takes place during the years of Karl the Great, approximately 775-825, and gives a depressing image of the world under his reign. In focus is the individual that is ground into nothing in the mill of powers. Like Vilhelm Moberg, Eyvind Johnson worked closely with authentic material. The story has three narrative levels – a trick to introduce more of the original material. This also makes it harder to distinguish different characters – the individual is complex and ever changing and the line between personalities is not distinct.
