The book is set in Gothenburg predominantly during the 1940s and uses the persecution of Jewish people during World War II as a backdrop.
The book was later adapted into a Guldbagge Award-winning feature film by the same name starring Bill Skarsgård.
[2] The book follows the Swedish man Simon Larsson throughout his childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
Fredriksson received the BMF prize (BMF-plaketten) for Simon och ekarna in 1985.
The first adaptation was a stage play that was written by Kjell Sundstedt and directed by Niklas Hjulström, and performed at the Folkteatern during 2002 and 2004.