Synopses & Reviews
The international star Sara Stridsberg returns with The Antarctica of Love, an unnamed woman's tale of her murder, her brief life, and the world that moves on after she left it
They say you die three times. The first time for me was when my heart stopped beating under his hands by the lake, and the second was when what was left of me was lowered into the ground in front of Ivan and Raksha at Solna Church. The third time will be the last occasion my name is spoken on earth.
She was a neglected child, an unreliable mother, a sex worker, a drug user — like so many nameless victims of violent crime. But first she was a human being, a full, complicated person, and she insists that we know her fully as she tells her story from beyond the grave. We witness her short life, the harrowing murder that ended it, and her grief over the loved ones she has left behind. We see her parents struggle with guilt and loss. We watch her children grow up in adopted families and live imperfect lives. We feel her dreams, fears, and passions, even though we will never know her name.
A heartrending existential drama by the acclaimed Swedish writer Sara Stridsberg, The Antarctica of Love is an unfliching testament of a woman on the margins, a tale of family lost and found, and a report of a murder in the voice of the victim. This novel of life after death unfolds in brief vignettes, brimming with unexpected tenderness and hope.
About the Author
Sara Stridsberg is an internationally acclaimed writer and playwright whose work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages. A former member of the Swedish Academy, she is a leading feminist and artist in her native Sweden and around the world. Her novel
Valerie: or, The Faculty of Dreams received the Nordic Council Literature Prize and was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize.
Deborah Bragan-Turner is a translator of Swedish literature and a former bookseller and academic librarian. She studied Scandinavian languages at University College London, and her translations include works by Per Olov Enquist and Anne Swärd.